Clannad: Gathering the Light
by Yamada-kun
Summary: This is essentially an extension of Clannad that mostly follows the story of Hisashi Yamada during his high school life. I hope you enjoy my amateur writing. I don't own Clannad in any way. Please review! I would like to know what the people want.
1. April 16, Monday

Here's another revision to the first chapter, sorry, but there were some changes to the grammar. Content-wise, it's pretty much the same.

Again, this is a condensed version of the original first four chapters.

Themes: Anime, Manga, Drama, Romance, Tragedy, Comedy, Moe, Supernatural, Slice of Life, High School, Family, Hurt/Comfort

* * *

Screaming, wails of unrelenting pain echo throughout the halls. This terrible lamenting won't stop. Even if I close my eyes, no matter how much pain I feel in the palm of my hand as the fingernails dig deeper, I can't wake up. I stand there, dumbfounded. _How did I get here? How did things end up like this_, I wonder. I can barely comprehend what's going on. I try to understand if it was my fault that things ended up this way. It has to be, at least in part. If we never met, if she and I had never spoken, we wouldn't be here. And she wouldn't be crying.

I try speaking, but my throat feels raspy and dry. I can only sound the words I want to say with my lips, a useless effort in retrospect. But I have to do something; she's crying and I'm just standing here? How pathetic am I? _I'm sorry,_ I try to say, but my voice is nothing more than a whisper. It feels like I'm swallowing thorns. My head starts to hurt, and I feel like my head is being crushed under the pressure of the sea.

How did things get this way?

**Clannad: Gathering the Light**

**Chapter 1:**

**Bruised and Scarred**

** April 16, Monday**

There's a quiet noise droning in the distance, a noise I've heard in the past, but hold no happy memories with (to my knowledge). Unfortunately, I can not attend to it as I have far more important matters to deal with. At the moment, I am in a hostage situation in a local bank. I came to this situation after not having enough money to purchase a soda for a fellow classmate; the quickest way to deal with this situation was to skip class and go to the bank and withdraw enough money to buy a soda for the whole neighborhood. It all started when I was standing in line to receive my payment, and I heard a raspy voice yell, "Pon pon pon!"

I turned in horror to see a male Kyara Pamyu Pamyu singing. I began to feel sweat drip down my back at this horrifying sight. His chest hair was extremely visible and I could feel the rising urge to cry, but I held my ground. After all, he was just trying to destroy my composure. The man began to dance erotically, and I knew. I knew the one sure way to defeat him; I had to dance. I cracked my knuckles and they boomed like thunder. This made Kyara stop his dancing instantly, understanding the challenge clearly. His eyes narrowed offensively so I returned the gaze. My legs began to spread apart as if God was possessing my body to give a performance that would be spoken about for centuries. Children would speak of me when they gathered saying, "I want to grow up to be just like Yamada!" Teachers would tell of my epic battle, telling students, "It's because of Yamada that we live in a Democratic society." I couldn't let the children down. No, I couldn't let the world down.

My opponent stepped closer to me and I did the same. He looked intimidated, but I didn't call him on it. We knew only one of us could walk away alive. And then, we leaped. We leaped as if the gravitational pull on the Earth had been removed. Our floating bodies danced, at our level of dancing, we no longer had a need for floors to dance upon. We floated above the town and people called after us with things like, "Save us Yamada-kun!" or "Provide our country with Democracy, Yamada-san!" And Even, "Deliver your people carbonated juice, Yamada-kun!"

And then Kyara grunted as blood spewed outward from his mouth and then he had began to descend toward the Earth's surface. It appears he couldn't handle my custom Swing Jazz- Bboy style. I began to fly toward him and could hear a sonic boom sound behind me, shattering the windows of a nearby sky-scrapper. I caught the man by his shoulders and then began to carry him in my arms as I floated down to earth. The citizens of Earth gathered around us as my feet touched the street softly. I knelt down and could see the man had turned back into the girl Kyara! She looked at me weakly with her eyes half open. "Pon, pon pon pon," The girl said to me, looking up into my eyes.

"Yes," I replied. "You were the strongest opponent I had ever faced."

Kyara smiled warmly and closed her eyes, whispering, "Pon pon..."

I brought the girl closer to me and embraced her body. "I understand." I stood up to face the crowd made up of many different nations with Kyara in my arms. Tears had began to build up in their faces. "Listen to me, everyone!" My voice echoed throughout the crowd of people. "This event shows us that even if we're women that can transform into men, at the end of the day, we're still people! Kyara proved that to everyone! She had to die to show us that!" Tears began to slide down my cheeks and onto the face of the girl in my arms. "Now, go claim your carbonated soft drinks!" Everyone ran past me and to the various vending machines all over the town as I weakly fell to my knees.

* * *

"How long do you plan on laying around like that?" A voice broke through my dreams and brought me back to reality. I could hear my alarm blaring as I focused my eyes on the ceiling fan above me. I turned my head to my door on the far side of my room where my mom was standing in the doorway. I moved my head again and looked at the alarm clock beside my bed. My palm slammed down on the off button and turned my body once more onto my back and looked at the ceiling. The clock said it was 8:03 and homeroom starts at 8:45, is it even forth getting out bed to make it on time?

"Who knows." I replied, not looking for a conversation with her.

"Well, you might not pass again if you don't attend class enough." My mom replied, apparently not noticing my unsociable behavior.

"You don't think I know that? How dumb do you think I am..." My voice carried on as she turned her face away from me, obviously bothered by something. I got up from my bed and pulled my shirt up and over my head, throwing it on the floor. "You mind? I'm getting dressed." I said to her, walking over to my school uniform that was hanging on my wall.

"Okay, thank you Hisashi." She said as she left, closing the door behind her. I guess I should explain something; I didn't pass my freshman year. It's not like I'm a complete idiot or something like that, I just didn't attend school enough. Even when I did go, I was always late. Now I'm a junior; a second year, even though I should be a senior. I guess my mom's gotten disappointed in me. I had gotten a scholarship to play basket ball at my high school. I was pretty good; I'm tall and decent at the sport; due to this, I started acting cocky. I was an ass to everyone, even my teammates. I stopped attending school, I thought I was good enough to just show up for games and nothing else. I dropped in my classes and then I was kicked off the team. By that time it was already too late, I failed most all my finals and classes and had to repeat my freshman year.

In my second year of being a freshman, I was asked to join the team again, since there was a "significant change in my character and grades". I declined. I knew that if I rejoined the team, the same thing would happen. I'm pretty sure I'm better off this way though, even if I go to school late all the time.

I slipped my arms into my jacket and put the buttons through their small holes. I straightened my red tie and walked into the bathroom on the second floor of my house. I then looked in the mirror above the sink. There was a small stubble growing around my jawline due to me not shaving this morning. My brown hair was a few inches above my shoulders and my bangs hung a little below my green eyes at about the middle of the bridge of my nose. I could see that I still had a lean body body, but I didn't have as much muscle as I did during my time playing basket ball.

I ran water over my razor and then raised the blade to my chin, sliding it along the surface of my skin. After I was done shaving, I picked up my bag and walked down my stairs and through the living room. My mom was standing in the kitchen with an apron over her clothes while washing the dishes. "Have a nice day." She says without turning to look at me.

"Yeah," I mumble back. I then begin my long trek to school out my front door. I meet an unforgiving sun along with the heat that follows. It's as if the beams are trying to burn through my clothing. Although it isn't hot, it's much warmer than inside my house; I guess I'm just over dramatic. After a few minutes of walking, I meet many students wearing the same uniform as I. With all our tan and blue apparel, it's sometimes difficult to tell who is who from the back side. I am a little easier to spot, considering my decent height advantage on most students. I'm guessing that if you were to average the male student height here, it'd probably be around 5' 7" and I'm around 5' 11" this year. Of course, there are other students taller than 5' 7", just most of the guys are under that height. It might be my heritage though; I'm only half Japanese. I'm about half English where as most everyone at this school is fully oriental.

Sometimes it sucks sticking out though. It's harder to cut classes and avoid both the teacher along with the class representative. I reach the foot of the hill leading to the school and stare up at the cherry trees above me. Students pass by, talking and gossiping about random things that aren't really that interesting anyway. These trees really are wonderful in the way that they lead the way up the hill, like they're inviting you to the school. I laugh a little thinking about it; it's sort of like those fish that hang out at the bottom of the ocean with the lights hanging in front of their heads. They fool the smaller fish by luring them with the light and then eat the smaller fish. Yep, I think that's a good analogy.

* * *

In the midst of my thinking about how this school must suck the life-energy out of students to fuel the air conditioning, I heard a soft voice. "Um," The voice said. "Are you alright?" I turn my head at the voice to see a girl standing next to me. She must have been wondering what I was looking at because she was looking up toward the sky too when I looked at her. She then smiled and realized what I was looking at. "Oh, you're enjoying the song birds," She said cheerfully.

A little off. "Actually I was looking at the sakura." But with my answer, she seemed more puzzled than when she thought I was starring off into space like an idiot. During her confusion, I took note of her features. She had long brown hair that reached halfway down her back, which matched her brown eyes. She was probably about 5' 1", if I had to guess and her student badge was red, like mine. She's a junior. I'm pretty sure she's not in my class though.

"The sakura?" She asked. "The trees have been here for years, I think."

"You're probably right about that," I agreed. "I was just thinking that they're the good point of this school." Wait. Why am I telling her this?

"You think so?" She asked. "I like many other things about this school."

"Is that so..." Why is she wasting her time talking to me about this sort of thing?

"It is!" The girl stated with a out-of-nowhere determined face. "I like my teacher and the students here are nice too. The lunch is also well put together."

"I never really noticed that; lunch is lunch, right?" I replied, half-heartedly.

"It's not though! It's a very important meal." Her eyes were really serious over such a small thing.

"I've never seen anyone so serious over a meal before." When I said that, it seemed the girl snapped back to reality and her face became flustered. It was a pretty cute sight. I looked around us and saw that there was no one left on the hill. I then looked at my watch and followed the minute hand with my eyes. It was 8:40.

"Well... I..." Her voice trailed off as she tried to think of something to say. "I think you should take eating well seriously."

"Thanks, mom, but I think we should get to class. We're going to be late if we just sit here all day, which I'd be fine with, but something tells me that you want to get to class to enjoy all the good things about this school." I tell her, and again, she's brought back to reality.

"Thank you very much!" She then begins to jog up the hill with her bag in front of her skirt. Her hair fluttering behind her. She stops halfway up the hill then runs back down toward me. She stops in front of me and then asks, "Aren't you coming?" As she tries to catch her breath.

"Well..." I contemplated the idea. She did run all the way back to me; it would be kind of mean to ignore her after jeopardizing her being punctual. "I might as well. But I'm pretty sure we can make it even if we just walk it, so take it easy."

"Alright." She agrees and then follows behind me up the hill leading to school. And on the way up the slope, I wonder about how my school year will be this time around.

* * *

Both the girl and I part as our shoe lockers are a few lockers away from each other. I turn the dial with repercussion because I'm having difficulty remembering the numbers that would ensure my day of wearing clean white shoes. It really shouldn't be this difficult to remember. Come on, think.

After a few moments of thinking, I immediately pull the handle up with out turning the dial. The locker creaked open. _Eh? Oh that's right... _I remembered that my locker was broken, so I didn't actually need to put in a combination to open it. I looked inside the small locker and saw a small note folded neatly on the top of my shoes. Another surprise, I guess. I picked up the note and began to unfold it when I heard, "Are you coming?" I quickly turned around, throwing the slip of paper back into my shoe locker and looking at my guest. The girl from the hill stood before me with a puzzled look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Go on ahead of me." I replied, reaching behind me and after the note.

"Well... okay," The girl said hesitantly. She turned from me and walked toward the stairs with small and quiet steps. I wonder if she has a boyfriend. He'd probably confront me if he saw me walking with her up the hill; I don't blame him. But then again, she might be dating some older guy who is out of high school already. But it could be the opposite of that; she could be dating a grade-schooler. Would that mean she has a loli complex? Wait, wait, wait. Why am I thinking about this? My thoughts are so weird. I don't think it's really in question why I had such a strange dream this morning.

I slipped my feet into my indoor shoes and tapped the tips of them on the floor; making sure they fit. I then stuffed the note that was previously lying neatly on my shoes into the tan pocket in my coat. _I'll read it in class,_ I decided. I held my bag underneath my left shoulder as I walked along and then the bell rang before I was at my class. I slid the door open and walked to my seat on the far end of the class right next to the end and at the back. It's a very nice seat, I might add. The teacher still wasn't in so I rested my head on the desk with my arms to use as a substitute for a pillow, but it isn't the same.

After a few minutes the teacher strolled into the classroom, apologizing for her tardiness. Of course, there was no need for apologizes; I was enjoying my resting time. "All right, time for attendance." Our home room teacher said. "Kishigawa?"

"Here." A student replied, raising his hand.

This continued for a while until a familiar name came up. "Isogai?"

"Yeah." A black haired male stated, sounding bored.

"Yeah, what?" Our teacher asked.

"Present~." The boy said in a mocking tone. The teacher continued, swallowing the words that would have been useless to say. That boy is one of the people that I associate with. I'd say we're close enough to be friends but we've never been to each others house before. We usually just hang out after school in the shopping district or outside the station. His name's Jun Isogai. He's, quite obviously, a junior like me. He has black hair that's a little longer than mine, but his bangs are flipped to the right, covering his right eye; it sort of makes me wonder if he can see through it. He's considered good looking by most all the female students. I guess they like guys with the really thin physiques. Isogai, like me, played basket ball his freshman year. Unlike me, however, he quit; I guess he thought it was boring. He's a few inches shorter than me; probably around 5' 9" and he was the center and the star of the team. Maybe it was too much pressure. I don't think he's gone out with any girl before, but I think it's because he intimidates them. He sits a few seats diagonally in front of me. I think it's so the teacher can keep an eye on him.

Then a voice broke through my thoughts. "Yamada. Yamada. Yamada!"

"Oh right, yeah, I'm here." I replied, half yawning.

"Is it too early for you, Yamada?" The teacher asked.

"It always is, Sensei." I said this while rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

The teacher rolled her eyes and walked to the chalkboard. "This is typical." Our teacher said, annoyed. "Yamada and Isogai, you're on cleaning duty today."

"Whatever." I said, slumping in my chair.

"Jackpot!" Isogai yelled excitedly. He beamed his bright smile and I could hear at least four different girls sigh in bliss.

"Why are you so happy about that?!" Our teacher blurted out, shocked.

"Well that means I get to spend time with you after school, Nakamura-sensei." Isogai replied, keeping up his blinding smile.

Nakamura-sensei sighed. "Well I can't have you two enjoying a punishment. The original students on cleaning duty will have to deal with the chore."

Isogai turned to me, giving me a thumbs up along with his legendary smile. _So that's what he was up to. _Another thing about Isogai, I wouldn't exactly call him book-smart but he definitely has a lot of commonsense, which might be better in this day and age. And also, it doesn't matter what season it is, Isogai always wears his spring uniform even if he's playing gym, he keeps the jacket on.

I eased back my chair; balancing on the back two legs and I pushed my hands into the pockets of my jacket. I felt a piece of paper resting in my pocket and remembered about this morning. I pulled the piece of paper out of my pocket and unfolded it. The paper read: _Hello Yamada, I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I've fallen in love with you. I was looking to do dirty things with you on the roof. Go there during lunch._

"WHAT!?" I suddenly jumped up from my seat, allowing my chair to fall backward. Who the hell writes this kind of letter?! Even if this person did fall in love with me, who writes, _I was looking forward to doing dirty things with you on the roof_?! I looked around the classroom to see everyone looking at me as I held the crumpled letter in the palm of my hand. "Right. Sorry." I sat down in my chair once again. _I guess I'll go see what this is all about at lunch, but then again, it might not be a good idea._

* * *

As the bell rang for the fourth period to come to a close, most of the students filed out of the classroom. Isogai walked up to me as I stood up from my seat. "Yo, you want to go to the cafeteria today?" He asked, peering at me from his visible left eye.

"Sorry, there's something I have to do today," I replied. "You go on ahead."

Even with the news of me not joining him for lunch, Isogai still smiled brightly. "That's fine by me; more bread for my own consumption." His smile turned more malevolent. "But now I'll have to make fun of Hirano all by myself."

"I'm sure you'll be fine without me. See you after lunch." I replied walking out the door. My destination: the roof. _This sounds stupid to me. Who would want to meet me on the roof?_

This used to be the old building. Well I guess the part I'm in right now is still part of the old building. A few years ago, there was a plan to replace this building with a whole new building, but that plan was eventually stopped before it could be completed. The school board contemplated on what to do with the building; they couldn't leave it under construction, after all. At that time, there weren't any classes being held in that part of the building but it was still an eyesore. Instead of replacing the whole building, the board decided on adding on to the building. This became an even bigger project than leveling the building and building a new one. There was pretty much a whole facility added to the school. Specialty and supplementary classes are mainly held in this section of the school; their good for prepping for universities, I guess. There's a huge range in classes here. If you want to learn about musical arts, this is the place. If you want to train to become a carpenter, well, this is the place for that too.

Along with this newly constructed building came an easily accessible roof, although I'm fairly sure we're not supposed to be up there, it seems that the person who wrote this note doesn't care about that. I pushed forward up the stairs. I could hear the faint sound of sneakers squeaking in the distance. Possibly my secret admirer? I'd see soon enough, I suppose. _I probably should have gotten something to eat, _I think as I hear my stomach growl.

I finally reach the roof exit at the top of the staircase. I extend my hand to the doorknob, my fingers lightly touch the metal and I stop. _What if it's a prank? _That would probably be for the best, though. I turn the nob and hear a clicking noise as I push open the door. The flutter of a skirt scurries out of sight as I peer out onto the roof. I move out from the doorway and quickly turn around to where the girl moved. At the same time, I could hear something soar through the air and it was coming in quickly. My body moved to the right instinctively and I could see a book pass right by my head. _No way..._ I faced my attacker. Her eyes were blood-shot with the aura of a wild beast. Her teeth were jagged and sharp; as if they were made to tear through defenseless animals.

"Hey! Hisashi! Somehow, I get the feeling that you've gotten the wrong description of me out there in the open! So how 'bout you make something else up!" A voice screeched through the flurry of thoughts going through my head.

"Very well." I then cleared my throat. "So there she sat, that girl from so many years ago, returning to my side once more. She's come to me once more to try and win my heart, but this time, it's a race against time. She only has a week before I move to America to study marine biology and-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" The girl asked, shattering my cliché plot line in an instant. "Never mind, I don't really care." The girl moved away from me and sat against the railing surrounding the entire roof. "So you came here for some perverted things." She got right to the point.

"I was hoping for that, but I saw you and all my hopes completely diminished." I replied, sitting next to her. "So what was that letter all about, anyway?"

"Well we haven't hung out since March. I thought you were beginning to forget about me." The girl replied in a teasing voice.

"Already had. But if you were expecting me, why'd you throw an encyclopedia at me?!" I said, remembering the unpleasant near-death experience I had just a few moments ago. "You could've seriously hurt me!"

"It was an accident~!" The cheerful girl replied.

"How could you accidentally hurl an encyclopedia at someone?!" My anger burst through my normal and calm self.

"Accident~!" The girl repeated with the same smile on her face, attempting to feign innocence.

"You really are a scary girl, Kei Fujibayashi." I said and looked out toward the sky. And then my stomach growled heavily, breaking the silence between us. "Er..."

Kei looked at me condescendingly. "You didn't get lunch?"

"I was told to head to the roof during lunch, you know. I didn't have much of an opportunity." I said bitterly.

"Then I guess I'll have to give you some of mine if you're going to be so pitiful about it." Kei picked up a bento lunch box from beside her. She unwrapped the box and took off the lid. The contents looked delicious, suspiciously so. I'm pretty sure Kei could tell I was in thought about the lunch box because she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Did you make this yourself?" I asked to which Kei immediately blushed.

"Well, I had help from my sister," She replied, looking down at the bento. "I'm not very good with cooking, so my sister usually helps me with my lunch."

"You have a sister?!" I never knew. I couldn't imagine a world with more Kei's walking around, or more so, I didn't want to. However, the image crept in to my mind. They take towns down at a time, sucking the life out of citizens for immortality while launching dictionaries at unsuspecting victims. "There would be a mass dictionary burning in the streets." I said in horror.

"What are you picturing about my sisters?" Kei said, sounding pissed.

"Sisters?!" Now there are Kei's marching throughout the streets of my mind laughing maniacally and yelling, "Hisashi~!" with dictionaries in hand. "I can't absorb knowledge by being hit by books!"

"Want to find out if that's true or not?!" Kei exclaimed, apparently fed up with my daydreaming.

"I apologize." I said, slightly bowing.

"I have two older sisters. They're twins but really different." Kei explained. "I thought you knew."

"Nope, you've never told me before."

"I thought Isogai might have told you..." Her voice trailed off. That's right, I'd forgotten. When I said that Isogai hadn't gone out with any girl before, that's not necessarily the case. He went out with Kei for a short period of time during their freshman year and my second freshmen year. It probably lasted a month. They seem to not hold any bad feelings toward each other but when it's just the three of us, things feel a little awkward.

Things got awkwardly quiet between us. But then I said, "So how much older are they than you?"

"Eight-teen years older." Kei said, seeming a little embarrassed.

"Wow, so you're the baby sister, Kei-chan." I said smiling, but Kei didn't seem amused with the nickname I gave her. After that, we both started eating. The food really was delicious. Kei got the bigger share, since it was her bento, after all.

The bell ending lunch rang and Kei gathered up her bento. "We should hang out sometime." Kei said running a little ahead of me and then turned back to look at me. "You're not as much of an idiot as you look~." She stuck her tongue out at me and then dashed back to class.

_Not a bad way to spend lunch, but I'm going to get hurt one of these days. Yeah, I think hanging around her brings down my life expectancy._

* * *

_Well, it looks like my anxiety for the rooftop meeting wasn't needed at all. Kei's the same as she's always been, and I find that reassuring. With all the change around here, it's nice to see things stay the same._

I began my journey back to the classroom. Kids were still hanging out in the hallways when I was in the second floor of the main building. Teachers began to guide the students back to their classes as I entered my own. I immediately saw Isogai waving me over to his seat, he seemed rushed for some reason. I made my way over to him and as soon as I did he swung his arm over my and around my neck. "Yo, let's get out of here before the teacher gets back; I just can't sit here all day." He said, proposing something that I wasn't really contemplating. I was just going to sleep all afternoon, after all.

"Sure, but where are we going?" I asked and Isogai picked up his sports bag from atop his desk.

"Follow me!" Isogai shouted triumphantly and marched into the hallway. We walked down the hallway toward the stairs leading to the first floor. "Oh!" Isogai shouted suddenly. "Let's go get Hirano."

"Hirano? Whatever we're gonna do, he's just going to try and mooch off us." I shrugged. "It's like he only wants to spend other peoples' money."

"I just feel bad sometimes. We make fun of him all the time; so I like to include him in things." Isogai chuckled.

I sighed, "It's not like he doesn't deserve it."

"I guess you've got a point there." Isogai said, smiling. "Well let's go pick him up."

"How're we gonna do that? Classes already started; his teacher's probably there."

"I've got my ways." Isogai gave me a thumbs up and crept down the hallway, hunching forward as if he was a thief. I followed behind in a more normal fashion. In this school, at least, if you act like you're supposed to be doing something, no one will think otherwise. So if I walk around like I'm supposed to be walking around, everyone will think I'm supposed be doing so.

We both stopped outside classroom 2-B. Isogai slid the door open slightly, peering through the crack in the door. We could see a kid sitting on the opposite side of the room from us, toward the windows. He had light brown hair and was leaning back in his chair, supporting himself on the back two legs. "Now what?" I whispered.

Isogai unzipped his sports bag and fished his hand into it. He made several laps around the outside before pulling out an eraser. He began plucking the eraser into smaller erasers. Flick. Isogai flicked one at Hirano. It came up short. "Damn." Isogai whispered in frustration. "Help out, Yamada." Isogai handed a few pieces of eraser to me. Flick. Flick. Flick. Flick, flick, flick. They wouldn't go anywhere near Hirano, and he didn't seem to notice, turning to look outside the window.

"Well, that didn't work. Now wha-" I couldn't finish what I was saying. Isogai suddenly stood up, pulling something out from his sports bag. It was a calculator. He threw it with all his might across the room and hit one of the legs that Hirano was supporting himself on. Hirano lost his balance, falling out of his chair and greeted the floor with his face. "That ought to of brought him back to reality." I stated, satisfied.

"Oh crap, run!" Isogai yelled, sprinting away as the teacher approached the fallen Hirano. We both did a combination of running and jumping down the stairs to the first floor. "Hirano always gets us into these kind of situations!"

"That's what I'm saying!" I agreed, jumping down half a flight of stairs. We agreed, even though we both sought enjoyment from the unsuspecting Hirano; that's just how things went around here. _This is how we keep school life interesting for Hirano._ That's how we justified it, anyway.

Now we could hear the teacher running behind us. "Get back here you idiots!" The teacher called after us, but we both had a considerable lead. Then I heard the squeaking of indoor shoes running out from a hallway next to us. Someone sprinted out the hallway that intersected with this one from the right, cutting us off from the exit. Now our exit's been blocked. The one blocking the way of the exit was Kei Fujibayashi. The girl's purple hair fluttered as she stopped in front of the exit. She had a devilish smile on her face. Isogai turned to face the teacher that stopped behind us. It turned out to be our teacher rather than Hirano's, Nakamura-sensei. She was in surprisingly good shape to have kept up with us and without breaking a sweat.

"It's the end of the line, Hisashi~." Kei said, with an evil voice, but also a smile on her face. "If this were to be a jail, I'd be the equivalent of a jailor and you an escaping convict."

"My rival, Kei Fujibayashi, comes to challenge me once again." I said, a smirk on my face. "I've gotten a lot stronger since our last encounter."

"Is that so~?" Kei said, her smile growing more malicious. "That's good to hear; I was afraid you'd disappoint me." She pulled two dictionaries out from behind her back.

_If I'm hit with one of those, I'm done for. Come on, the exit's right in front of me. It's not time to lose heart; I'm almost free._ I slightly turned my head, keeping my eyes on Kei. "Isogai." I said, trying to not let Kei or Nakamura hear me. "You run the other way, I'll deal with Kei. We'll meet up outside the station after all this is over."

Isogai looked frightened. "Er, you sure about that? Fujibayashi's been known to get a little violent."

"Don't worry about it; we go back. I think she'll go easy on me." I said, trying to give a reassuring smile.

"If you say so..." Isogai turned back to look back at Nakamura. "I guess we get to hang out after all, Nakamura-sensei. Ha ha..." Isogai laughed nervously.

My right leg moved a little farther forward and I began to put my body weight into it. I ran at Kei, and she responded accordingly, launching a dictionary toward my jugular. I ducked under the book and stumbled a little, I pushed myself back up with my right arm. I looked at Kei, but her image was blocked out by a book speeding toward my face. And then everything went dark.

* * *

I opened my eyes, finding myself on a bed in a foreign room. I pushed myself up and looked at a clock that was hanging on the wall. It read 3:27. School was over now. _Did Kei knock me out? So much for going back._ A woman walked into the room I was in. She had brown hair and was about 5' 5" and she was pretty good looking too. It's strange that I've never seen her before; I think I'd remember if I had. "Hello, Yamada-kun." she said. "You've been asleep for a while."

"Yeah..." I replied, still looking around the room.

"Fujibayashi-san said that you slipped and knocked yourself out earlier in the day." So the woman said.

"She did, huh?" That sounded like her; covering for herself. I wonder if I should contradict that? But then she'd probably get in trouble, and I don't exactly want that; she's my friend, after all. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"I thought it best to let you sleep. I don't think you received a concussion, but you should still take it easy for the time being." The woman stated, sounding worried.

"Thanks." I got up from the bed. "I should be fine now, so thank you for worrying about me." I began to walk toward the door and then the woman handed me a small piece of paper. "Eh... what's this?"

"Your detention slip." The woman said cheerfully. "You should try to avoid doing bad things for the future; the world outside high school won't be so easy on you."

"Yeah, I'll try to remember that." I walked out of the nurses office with the slip in my hand. The nurses signature said that she was Miyamoto-sensei. Alright, the room designated for detention is classroom 3-A. _A senior class, huh?_ I start climbing the steps to get to the third floor. _If I never let basket ball get to my head, there's a possibility I'd be in that class this year._ I reached the third floor shortly.

After a few moments of walking, I was standing in front of the door to room 3-A. I slid open the door to the classroom. Inside the room were three students. Kei Fujibayashi was there, drawing on Hirano's sleeping face with a permanent marker while Jun Isogai was holding his head in his hand while looking out the window. There didn't seem to be any teacher supervising them.

"Yo." I said, breaking the silence.

Kei turned around quickly, holding the marker behind her back. "His face was like this when I found him!" Then Kei noticed I wasn't the teacher. A condescending look grew on her face. "Oh~, Sleeping Beauty's returned to the world of the living."

"That's kind of scary to hear from you." I replied. "And why are you here?"

She grew an angry look on her face. "That first dictionary I threw missed you but found its way to a nearby window! I told them that it accidentally slipped out of my hand and broke the window, but they still gave me detention!"

"And it accidentally almost destroyed my wind pipe!" I exclaimed.

"Accidentally~!" Kei replied cheerfully.

"Looks like we couldn't make it to the station." Isogai said, getting up from his seat with a smile on his face, despite being in detention.

"I was hoping that at least you escaped." I said, turning to Isogai who walked over to the two of us.

"Well, Nakamura-sensei sort of put me in an arm-lock as I tried to sprint by her." Isogai then began to rub his left arm to show his still occurring pain.

All three of us looked at the sleeping Hirano with Kei's name written on his forehead. Isogai took the marker out of Kei's hand and then wrote his name on Hirano's left cheek. He then held out the marker to me. I then wrote my name on Hirano's right cheek. "It's finished." I declared, putting my hands on my hips.

"Now time for a picture~." Kei said, taking out her cell phone from her bag. She set the timer on the phone and aimed it Hirano. We hunched down toward Hirano. I was in the middle with Kei on my left and Isogai on my right. Kei held out a peace sign, and we all smiled honestly. It's strange to think that high schoolers could have fun during detention, but there we were. Most high school students have fun at the shopping mall or at parties, but we were different; enjoying the time we had in detention. But I've got to say, there may not have been any other way I'd want to spend my time after school than with these people around me.


	2. April 17, Tuesday

-Side Note- Sorry for not posting in a while, so here's a longer post for you guys. Unfortunately, I have regents exams to prepare for, so I may not be able to post too frequently until summer vacation. But this note is no longer valid, since I changed the first four chapters into one chapter.

* * *

**Illusionary World**

"Have you ever wondered how lonely it would be to live in a world that had ended? A world that only knew pain, sorrow and loneliness. But that could be endured if one wasn't alone." I heard a girl's voice say in a black setting. "In this world that had ended, I wasn't alone. I had a friend. But this friend had to leave me, but in a way, my friend became closer to me in doing so. Even still, I became lonely. It's selfish to think so, but I did become lonely without the company of my friend."

What is this person saying? I can't make any sense of it. And why can't I see her? Just elaborate more so I can understand, please. If you do, I'm sure I can take part in this one-sided discussion.

"So now I want to ask you a question. But this question must only be answered once the following questions are considered." The girl says after a few moments of silent darkness. "Would you take his place to be with me, even if it's in a world that only knows pain? Would you learn to love someone like me? Would you be willing to watch me die and stay in this lonesome place all alone for the remainder of time?"

What? What is she talking about? Love? Loneliness? Death? I still haven't learned anything about what she's saying. Would I be able to watch her die? Why would I want to do that?

"Would you want to live through all of time with me in a world that had ended?" Even in this pitch-black world, I can feel my heart skip a beat at that simple question. But it's not so simple, is it? Along with that question, there are also the earlier questions to consider, as she said. Living in that world with her, I wouldn't have any friends or family. Only her. And then, there's no guarantee that she'd be able to maintain her existence and that would leave me alone for all eternity.

As those very same questions ran through my mind, a small light drifted between where the girl's voice came from and myself. It was as if that light was a small ball of energy. Just the sight of it was fantastic. I could feel the light's warmth without being anywhere near it.

"You've never seen one, have you?" The girl asked, unphased by the apparition-like thing before us. "Although it's dark now, lights like these are common in this world. Even in a lonely world such as this, light can still break through the stagnant darkness."

* * *

**April 17, Tuesday**

My eyes opened and greeted the darkness of my room. I turned my head to look at the alarm clock on my nightstand. The red LED numbers read that the time was 4:17 AM. Although it was way too early for me to go to school, I felt wide awake. Was it a dream I had that made me this way? It's too fuzzy; I can't remember what my dream was about, if I had one. But trying to think about it, I felt a bit sad, so I stopped.

I got out of bed and slipped on a pair of gray sweatpants and pulled a black sweatshirt over my head that was lying next to my bed. I quietly made my way down the stairs of my house and to the front door to not wake my mom up. I slipped on my shoes and walked off into the early morning without making a sound. Maybe taking a walk would help me feel a little sleepy. I walked to the station, where I spent many afternoons with Isogai and Hirano. Not many people were up at this time. There was the occasional car that drove by, but that wasn't too often.

I then walked past the arcade and the closed shops in the shopping district. There was a man leaning on the side of one of the shops. I couldn't really see his face, but he brought a cigarette to his mouth and snapped open a lighter, illuminating the small area near him. But that still wasn't enough to see who it was. However, the person seemed sort of startled when he saw me; he began to walk in the other direction at a fast pace. It's not like I was going to follow him or anything, so I resumed my walk.

I stopped in front of a vending machine outside one of the stores and bought a carbonated juice. After some time, I made my way over to the river on the end of town and sat down on a patch of grass in front of the river. Cars were now moving back and forth over the bridge leading across the river as shifts were starting to end and begin. I opened my soda and began drinking it leisurely. I rolled up my sleeve to look at the watch on my wrist to see the numbers read 5:32 AM. _Maybe I can still get some sleep if I go back home._

After about forty-five minutes, I made it back to my house. The lights in the dining room were on; my mom must be up no, huh. I really didn't want to have a conversation with her about my reasons for coming home at six in the morning. I didn't want to have any kind of conversation with her.

I walked around the back of my house and opened the door leading to my laundry room. I could hear the sound of clothes tumbling around in the dryer close to the door. I was hoping to sneak in the back and quietly make my way to my room upstairs. I walked into the dark laundry room and crept toward the stairs. My mom was in the kitchen making coffee. I quietly stepped on the first step and then I heard her voice.

"Why are you coming home so early?" She said, but I didn't turn around to look at her. I wonder what kind of eyes are looking at me. What kind of facial expression she has. Does she look angry? Sad? Or disappointed?

"I'm going to bed." I stated, without answering her question. I walked up to my room with haste and closed the door behind me. I laid down on the twin bed and held my breath for a few seconds, trying to hear all the noises around me. I couldn't hear her follow me so I let out my breath.

Her words sort of angered me. _Why should she care so much? _I had thought. _Just because we __have the same blood? We've been a shitty family for years, and that's not going to change by suddenly worrying about each other. _That was how I really felt. My mom and I avoided contact with each other daily, just to try and avoid the awkward conversations we'd have, because we knew that we weren't a good family. We just didn't want it out there in the open. We were both thinking it, we just didn't put it into words otherwise things would probably get worse.

When I was six, my parents had gotten a divorce which ended with my mom getting full custody of me. Although I was fine with my mom back then, I really loved my dad. My dad was always a cool, tough and handsome guy. We both played together, watched movies together and just had talks (Although they weren't that intimate because I was a little kid). But I haven't seen him in eleven years. There are a lot of things a little boy has questions about when they're a kid that they can't ask their moms about. Just having conversations with him would be nice, but I haven't even heard about him in at least five years. I don't even know where he lives. The situation with my father is probably what makes everything so awkward.

I closed my eyes thinking about when I was a kid and how nice it would have been to have a father-figure around during different times of my childhood. I thought about what kind of guy I'd be now. Would I go to school on time every day? Would I still be in basket ball and working my hardest at winning? Would I be an honor student? I think I fell asleep with a smile on my face during that early morning.

And then, I awoke once again. The sun was out to greet me this time when my eyes opened. I turned my head to my bedside table to see the LED lights from my alarm clock glowing in my face. The clock read 8:07. My legs rose over the side of my bed and I stood up, stretching my arms toward the ceiling and releasing an audible yawn. My eyes moved to the uniform hanging on my wall. _I should probably go to school on time to avoid any problems with mom. I'd rather be away from her anyway,_ I thought.

* * *

I walked down stairs fully clothed and my bag under my left shoulder. I didn't really keep anything in there anyway, it was more of something I carried around to make myself look more like a student.

It was a nice morning. The sun shone brightly, although this antagonizes someone like me, it would be thought of as a nice morning to most people. The temperature was in the high sixties, so I couldn't be unhappy with that. My feet led me along the same path I take everyday. I walked along the town with no thoughts running through my mind at all. This serene and familiar walk allowed me to just walk on without thinking at all; the routine was just so familiar.

I eventually reached the bottom of the hill leading to the place I would spend the next few hours of my day and I began dreading walking up the hill. My feet began to start retracing my steps, stepping backward and about to turn back the way I came when I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. It was that girl from yesterday. She was staring up at the very same sakura blossoms that I was looking at yesterday morning. She seemed entranced by the sakura blossoms, not noticing the students looking at her as they walked around the girl's small body.

I walked toward the girl with brown hair, my hands stuffed in my pockets. I stood beside her for a few seconds, but she didn't notice me; her focus was on the sakura. I looked at where she was staring. "Enjoying the song birds?" I asked, breaking the silence between us.

It took a few moments to get a reaction out of the girl. She noticed I was standing right beside her and then realized she was spacing out. After realizing this, she noticed that I asked a question. "Of course not!" She answered defensively and as if my question was absurd.

"Then what are you doing? Planning on skipping school?" I asked. "I've got to say, standing right outside the gate isn't a good place to hang out at when cutting class."

"I'm not doing that either!" She stated, closing her eyes.

"Then what _are _you doing?" I questioned, looking up at the sakura blossoms that she had been watching up until a moment ago.

"Well..." Her voice trailed off as her face became flustered and red. "You seemed so distracted by the sakura blossoms yesterday, so I checked on them today to understand what was so interesting about them."

"Is that so?" Now it makes sense why she was hesitant in telling me her reasons; that was kind of an embarrassing confession. After a few moments of a really awkward silence, I spoke up. "I guess you didn't really get what I was saying yesterday about the sakura blossoms."

The girl looked up at me, the red slowly leaving her face. I tried to remember the explanation I told her yesterday. "I said they were the good point of this school." I explained. "That might seem kind of strange to you, since you happen to love this school very much... I'm a different case though."

"So you really don't like this school?" She asked, wondering if I was serious or not.

"It's not that I hate this school specifically... or maybe that is the reason?" I hadn't really thought too much about it before. The reason I don't like this school, that is. Is it that I hate school in general? Or is it only this school that I hate? I can't really remember how I felt about middle school or grade school.

_ Well now I seem like an indecisive idiot to this girl, _I thought as the girl in front of me put her hand to her chin, as if thinking about it herself.

"Well," The girl said, raising her voice, "I guess not everyone likes this school as much as others. And isn't that fine?"

I guess she's right about that. Having a generalized opinion about everything would be pretty boring anyway. But it's somehow bothering; there's just something I don't like about this school. Actually, I think the whole town may be included in that discontent.

"Well, let's get going." I said, walking up the hill. I could hear the tapping of small footsteps behind me chasing me up the hill. Soon the girl was standing right beside me, standing at the height of about my shoulder. "Oh yeah, I'm Yamada. Er... Hisashi's my given name."

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm Ushio Okazaki, um... Yamada-san." Okazaki replied. She sounded a lot bolder than she looked saying that, however. But her face was kind of cute.

"It's not like this is the first time we've met." I pointed out as we walked up the slope. "And I don't think you added the right honorific to my name." I walked parallel to Okazaki, showing her the red badge on my uniform's left breast. "I'm a junior just like you, so you don't have to call me Yamada-san."

Okazaki nodded in understanding. "I guess you're right... Yamada-kun."

"That's better." I said, sleepily.

We made it to the shoe lockers within a few minutes and there was still time before homeroom started so we walked around the halls. She didn't seem talkative, but once she started talking, she seemed confident. I wondered what people would think about us talking so casually. People might start getting the idea that we were going out, I wouldn't want that; people would look at Okazaki funny, asking why she would go out with a delinquent like me. I wouldn't want her to go through that kind of embarrassment.

I suddenly stopped walking while she was in the middle of talking about what Okazaki was thinking of having for lunch. She soon realized I wasn't walking beside her any longer, so she turned to look at me. "Is something wrong?"

_Please don't look at me like that, _I thought. "I just remembered something while you were talking about lunch." I lied. "I have to go meet an idiot named Hirano for an early lunch."

"It certainly is an early lunch." She said, believing my idiotic lie. "But won't you miss homeroom if you leave for lunch now?"

"Yeah, well... my stomach sometimes takes over my thought process." I replied, rubbing the back of my head as I was too embarrassed of this stupid lie.

"But that's no good!" Okazaki said sternly. She grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the junior classrooms. Well this plan seems to have backfired. Now I think it's more in question if Okazaki and I are in a _that _kind of relationship.

I could hear students talking around us saying things like, "She sure is taking the initiative," or "I didn't think that punk would ever get a cute girl like her." That last one made me feel kind of happy and kind of pissed at the same time.

Then someone started walking down the hall toward us who I _definitely _didn't want to see this. Her purple hair fluttered as she walked closer to us. When she passed by, she scanned the scene before her and then began to laugh uncontrollably at my helplessness to this girl that was dragging me to class. _I guess I should have known Kei would do something like that, _I thought.

"Which class is your homeroom?" Okazaki asked stopping in the hallway and looking up at me.

"Class 2-D," I lied. My real class was 2-C.

"Okay." Okazaki then began to walk toward the end of the hall and then the realization hit her. "Wait, you're not in classroom 2-D."

I then lied once more, "Of course I am."

"But that's my classroom and I've never seen you there before." Okazaki said, having reason on her side. But I was too deep into this lie that I didn't need reason any longer.

"I transferred to this school today," I declared, ludicrously.

"But I talked with you yesterday," Okazaki replied.

"... My class is room 2-C." I said, not having any other way to continue this pitiful lie.

Okazaki guided me to my own classroom and even walked me inside. She looked at my teacher, Nakamura-sensei who was already stunned by this girl dragging me to class and said, "I've brought Yamada-kun to class."

"Y-yeah," Nakamura-sensei replied, still shocked. After Okazaki left, Nakamura-sensei turned to look at me. "What was that all about...?"

"I'm not quite sure myself, but I think today would have been a good day to stay in bed." I replied, slumping down at my desk. I could see Isogai wasn't here, and I was kind of glad about that; he'd probably just mess with me all afternoon about what just happened if he was.

* * *

I slept for most of the afternoon, but it wasn't easy. Since it's still the beginning of the year, Nakamura-sensei is trying to burn it into our skulls that we have to study harder now that we're juniors. It's hard for me to do so, however; I've only studied a grand total of twenty minutes in my entire life. That number's probably even lower for Isogai.

By lunch, I had perfected holding my head up with my arm and covering my eyes with my hair to make it look like I was loosely paying attention. I felt someone shaking my shoulder a few minutes after the lunch bell rang and I groggily looked up at whoever was invading my sleep. It was Hirano. "Hey, isn't Isogai here?" He had asked, sitting in an empty desk that was next to my own.

"Nah, I guess he-" I hadn't finished my sentence before the door to the classroom slid open.

The male beauty that is Jun Isogai had entered the classroom shouting a very elegant, "'Sup, bitches?" Toward Hirano and myself. He lead a girl who was wearing the school uniform into the classroom. She had shoulder-length red hair and reddish brown eyes to match. The girl looked about 5' 4" and had a physique resembling Kei's; I'd guess that she's in a sports club or something, but I haven't seen her around before. She wore a red badge like mine and looked about sixteen like the others.

"Yo." I waved at Isogai. "You're pretty late, y'know?"

"Of course I know." Isogai walked a little closer to us with the girl walking a little behind him. She was looking around the classroom as if trying to memorize the environment. Isogai placed his right hand on his hip and presented the red-haired girl to us with his left. "Look what I found."

Both Hirano and I looked at him suspiciously. "You found a girl, huh? They're pretty rare nowadays, aren't they." Hirano sarcastically said.

"No, no, man." Isogai began, shaking his head with a smile on his face. "She's a new student in this school and we get the pleasure of showing her around for the rest of the day."

"Doesn't that sound a little too good to be true?" I asked, still suspicious. "I mean two periods just to show around a new student? That seems unrealistic. Who'd you hear this from?"

"The guidance counselor told me to," Isogai explained. "I was arriving at school just now and he told me, 'Hey Isogai, you're the coolest guy I know, so show this new student around,' and I'm all, 'Sure'."

"Although that was an enchanting story, something tells me you left a few things out." I said, yawning.

"What did I forget?" Isogai asked.

"One, where do we come into helping you show around a new student? And two, when in that story did the guidance counselor tell you that you could spend two periods showing a new student around the school?" I replied, laying my head on the desk in front of me.

"Well he never said I couldn't include the two of you and he never told me how long I was supposed to spend showing her around." Isogai said, defending his eccentric logic to the end.

"There's another problem," Hirano stated, "she disappeared."

Isogai turned around quickly and frantically ran into the hallway after the girl. We could hear Isogai yell, "Found you!" In the hallway before shortly returning back, holding the new student's arm. "What were you doing, anyway?" He asked, upset.

"I was beginning to look around the school." The girl said plainly. "After all, it looked like you were too busy talking to these two to show me around."

"I was getting to it! I just needed to stop here first." Isogai turned to us and asked, "So you guys coming, or what?"

Well, I still haven't eaten, and if I go with him, I probably won't eat anything until I go get dinner tonight. But what the hell, it doesn't seem like these two will get along anyway; I may as well tag along to see what happens.

"Might as well." I said, standing up from my seat. "You coming, Hirano?"

"I guess there's nothing else for me to do." Hirano pushed out the chair he was sitting in.

"Alright!" Isogai exclaimed happily. "Now to resume your delayed tour." Hirano, the new girl and I followed Isogai out of the classroom. He showed the girl around erratically; not really ever having a plan on where to go next. Following this pattern, we had to go back to different parts of the school we had already been in to show some classes that we'd missed the first time.

Toward the end of the tour, we all ended up in the old building. We were all sitting around at a lounge that was constructed in the middle of the building after the renovations a few years ago. "We should get something to drink," Isogai suggested.

"That's alright;" Hirano replied, laying on one of the couches lined against the far wall, "I'm too comfortable to get up."

I looked over at Isogai and said, "Well I've still got money, since I didn't but lunch." I stood up from the chair I was sitting in and started walking toward the main building.

"Wait." Isogai called and I turned around at the sound of his voice. "Can you bring her with you?" Isogai motioned his hand toward the new student. "We didn't show here the cafeteria."

"Sure; it doesn't matter to me." I replied, shoving my hands into the pockets of my pants. The girl stood up from the chair next to Hirano and followed behind me. The trip to the cafeteria was _way _too quiet. I guess it was awkward since we didn't know each other and Isogai was the only one of us to actually talk to her before. I'm sure that she knew this too. We both reached the cafeteria and I started to narrate my tour with less vigor than Isogai. "So yeah, this is the cafeteria." I pointed across the room to the vending machines. "Those are the vending machines that kids usually get food from between classes. It's against the rules to eat or drink in the halls, but no one really cares about that rule." We walked between the rows of tables and chairs to the soda vending machines next to the snack machine. "Anything you want in particular?" I asked, turning to her.

"Green tea, please," She said. The first thing she's said to me.

"Sure. I'm in the mood for that too, so I'll just get that for everyone." I entered my money and pressed a few numbers. Soon, we received our drinks and started heading back toward the others. It was quiet again, so I tried striking up a conversation. "So why'd you come to this school?"

"My parents and I pretty recently moved to this town." So she said. "It would be hard to commute to my old school from my new house."

"And how do you like the school so far?"

"Well, I haven't exactly attended any classes yet, so I don't really know." She explained. I hadn't even thought about that. We only thought about skipping out on the rest of school and not how it'd look for a new student to cut the few classes of her first day at a new school. We're idiots.

"Sorry about that." I said, kind of embarrassed at how stupid I was.

"Don't worry about it." She replied, taking a sip of her green tea. "Not doing anything on a first day isn't a bad way to start the new school year."

"I guess you're right about that," I agreed.

She then said, "And besides, it's not like it was boring."

"You don't think so?" I was surprised; she just walked around listening to us being idiots.

"I thought it was nice. From what I can tell, you guys are one hundred percent genuine." She had stated.

"What do you mean?" I asked, a bid confused.

"In other schools I've been to, students only do what will make them popular or make them attractive to the opposite sex. But you guys act the way you do, because that's just how you are."

"Huh." I said, thinking about what she had just said. "I've never thought of it like that before."

"Although your friend seems different." The girl stated.

"Hirano? I think he's genuine. I don't know anyone who would want to act like that purposely." I replied, jokingly.

"I mean the one with black hair." She said, looking up at me.

"Isogai?" I asked, I've always known him to act like that though. "Well he's always acted that way. Well, since tenth grade, that is. Oh and by the way, why would the guidance counselor ask a delinquent like Isogai to give you a tour?"

"Well, he didn't." She began to explain. "Isogai walked by the guidance office while just getting to school, I assume, and overheard the guidance counselor say I was a new student. Isogai quickly offered to give me a tour of the school and pulled me along before the teacher could reply."

"He's more of an idiot than I thought." I stated sighing.

"But he doesn't seem like a bad person." She replied.

"He isn't, he just breaks girls' hearts." I said scornfully. And then I thought about how Kei was after their break up. It's still unclear who broke up with who, because no one would be stupid enough to ask either one of the them. If someone asked either one, I'm pretty sure they'd take it as something personal against them. Although Kei seems like she was more affected by the break up, I couldn't really picture Isogai breaking up with Kei. But I've always thought Kei broke up with Isogai.

Just then, the bell ending homeroom rang through the hallways. "Hey," I said. "You mind bringing these to the other guys? There's something I've got to do."

"Sure; I don't mind." The girl said, taking the two other green teas I was holding. "What are you going to do?"

"I have to go catch up with an old friend." I turned around the opposite way and started jogging back toward the junior hallway.

* * *

I saw purple hair wave a few meters in front of me. The girl was walking with a few other classmates of her's toward the stairs to the first floor. I then call out her name, "Kei!" I yelled, waving above the crowd to show where I was. She turned to look at who had called her. Kei's eyes met mine and then she turned back the way she was going. _What the hell?_

I followed after her, pushing past a few students and down a flight of stairs to the first floor. I caught up to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. "Finally-" As I said that, she judo flipped me. Although I don't remember it too well, I remember laying on the floor. "Ow..."

A teacher walked out from the main office, which we happened to have been right outside of. The teacher looked down at me laying on the floor with a group of students huddled around me. "What happened?" The teacher asked.

"I slipped," I said, raising my hand up in the air and waving it to show my consciousness.

"Again, Yamada-kun?" The teacher asked. "That's the second time in two days, right?"

"What can I say? The janitors need to stop waxing the floors so damn often." I said, looking around me. Looks like Kei left me lying on the floor. That girl. What's her problem?

I took off through the crowd of students toward the shoe lockers and I could hear the teacher calling out after me as I jogged. I stopped at my shoe locker and switched my indoor shoes with my outdoor ones. _I can't believe I'm pursuing a girl like her. _

I began to jog once more, passing through the front gates and down the hill. I slid to a stop halfway down the hill and looked around my environment for Kei. All I wanted to know was a simple question. Well, a question I shouldn't have put off until then to ask.

I saw the back of a girl that looked awfully familiar. I ran down the hill toward the girl and stopped a few feet in front of her. I turned around to face the brown haired girl I had met yesterday on this very same hill. "Okazaki!" I said.

Okazaki looked surprised to see me and she smiled when she spoke. "I'm glad you remembered my name, Yamada... kun."

She seemed hesitant to use the honorific; I'm sure she wanted to call me her upperclassmen. "Hey Okazaki, have you seen a girl walk by here with long purple colored hair?" I asked immediately.

Okazaki looked surprised at this question. "Oh, are you looking for your girlfriend?"

"I don't think I'd live very long if I was..." I mumbled.

"What?"

"Oh, she's not my girlfriend. She's a girlfriend of a friend. Eh... no, she's not a girlfriend of a friend. She's a friend of a friend. Well, would I really call them friends? Anyway, she's an ex-girlfriend of a friend and a friend of mine." I finally answered.

"Um..."

"All that doesn't matter. The thing that matters is if you saw her or not," I stated.

"I don't think I did." Okazaki replied.

"That's just my luck." I said, dropping my shoulders.

"But, I'll help you look for this girlfriend." Okazaki declared, sounding determined.

_It's funny that you think Kei's my girlfriend when everyone else probably thinks you're my girlfriend, _I thought. "Alright, let's go the rest of the way down the path until it goes to the main road."

"Okay!"

Okazaki and I ran around for two hours or so before stopping in the shopping district to get something to quench or thirsts. We got soda at a vending machine outside a supermarket and then we sat down at a nearby bench. "She's probably home by now." I said, giving up hope.

"Is she someone to stay at home often?" Okazaki asked.

"Well..." I should've known that, shouldn't I have? "I don't know, but I can't really picture her sitting home and watching TV."

Okazaki then asked, "Then is there anywhere that she goes frequently?"

I realized that I didn't know anything about this girl at all. I'd known her since middle school, but I've never really _known _her. I couldn't answer normal questions about this girl. It's probably because our friendship has all just been a big joke. We were never serious with one another, and then when I wanted to discuss something serious, I couldn't find Kei. _What the hell kind of friend is that?_

"Is there anywhere that you two have ever gone together?" Okazaki then suggested.

Finally, something that I knew. I stood up from the bench and turned to Okazaki. "I know where she is now. Thanks for helping out; I couldn't have figured it out without you!" I then started to sprint away.

* * *

I ran for a while, sprinting as fast as I could. After forty minutes, I reached the hill leading to school. Flower petals were spread out before me. The wind began to blow a crisp breeze, knocking down more petals to greet me.

I stepped toward the school as the horizon began to turn reddish in color. The after-school activities should have be done for today, including any sports. The front gates were still open for any stragglers, I guessed. I walked through the school campus and toward the old building. There was only a small chance that she'd be there, but I felt something pushing me on, as if this question was of great importance for some reason.

I walked within the building and heard the squeak of my indoor shoes against the tiled floor. I climbed up the stairs leading to the roof and cautiously turned the knob. It was unlocked. I pushed out the door and walked on to the school rooftop. I could see a young girl sitting on the edge of the building, her legs hanging in between the rails that were surrounding the entire rooftop. She didn't look back at me, even when I closed the door leading back in to the building.

"It's kind of weird to see your face so serious." She finally said, shattering the silence between us. I was sort of enjoying that silence too; like it kept either of us from progressing with the conversation that we were going to have. I'm sure she felt comfort in it as well, but she chose to confront it. She was far stronger than me.

"I could say the same thing to you, Kei." I sat down next to her and leaned against the railing. I looked up at the sky to watch the new colors over take it.

"You want to know, right?" Kei still looked out over the campus, looking down from her high vantage point.

"Do you want to tell me?" I asked, not looking at her, I'm sure I don't want to see the expression she's making.

"Yeah... but, I don't think you should hear it from me." Kei hugged the railing and pressed her warm-looking face against the cold bars. "Have Jun tell you."

"You know, he'd probably beat the hell out of me." I said, turning to look at her face for the first time. "You must really like him still, huh?"

Kei shook her head. "I don't know about that. But, I think things should change, especially for him."

"What do you mean?" I still didn't know what she was talking about.

"Ask Jun about it." She was adamant that I ask Isogai. "Ask him, and it'll make sense."

After a few minutes of silence I spoke. "You know," I had said, "If you ever need someone to talk to, you can call me anytime. Even if it's at like 3:00 AM; I'll probably be up anyway." I gave a slight smile to which she nodded.

We both sat there for I don't know how long. But Kei decided to stand up after the sun had already been down for at least an hour. I stood up and followed behind her out the old school building and to our shoe lockers. We both walked down the hillside path side by side not saying a word. We were just enjoying each other's company, but I could tell that she was still stressed out. I wanted to relieve Kei of that burden that she was carrying that made her act the way she did.


	3. April 18, Wednesday

** April 18, Wednesday**

I awoke from my slumber like most every morning, hearing the blare of my alarm clock ringing throughout my room. But unlike most days, I was just lying in my bed, starring at the ceiling. Now, there were two choices. One, stay in bed all day. Or two, go to school and get my ass kicked by Isogai.

I sat up in my bed and pressed my palm against the off button on the top of my alarm clock. _He is much smaller than me, though. I think it would be a pretty even fight; he's faster than me, but I'm stronger. _I nodded to myself, believing I came to a reasonable conclusion. _What the hell am I thinking? _I walked over to the the school uniform hanging on the wall opposite my bed. I quickly dressed myself and walked down the stairs to my kitchen to see my mother standing where she always did mostly whenever I saw her. I walked out the door before either of us could say anything to the other and began down the familiar path to school.

I could see many students wearing the same uniform as I, like most days walking along the road. I'd always been happy that not many cars passed through this area on the way to school, otherwise it would make commuting a hassle. I'm sure that more cars drive through here than in past years, however, because of the urbanization that's always going on. I couldn't say I was too thrilled about that fact, but there wasn't much a teenager could do about it. Besides that, not all of it was bad; there was even a new shopping mall built nearby about three years ago. A lot of the people from town were happy about that.

I checked my watch to see what time it was and saw that it was 8:36 by the time I got to the bottom of the hill at school. I stopped to look at the school like most days and I didn't move any closer for a few minutes. Students passed by me, some took time to glance beside them at this mysterious student. What is he looking at? Why is he just standing there? Is he waiting for his girlfriend? These are questions those students may have been asking themselves. I can't deny it's a little strange for someone to stop walking in mid-stride to just stare off into space. But I didn't really want to face the rest of the day.

I then turned around and began to walk, but saw a teenage girl looking at me, which made me stop walking faster than I had began. Ushio Okazaki looked upon me with concern all over face. After a few seconds of silence I sighed and began to walked toward her. She seemed to ready herself for something but I walked right past her. "Yamada-kun..." I heard her say as I kept walking toward where I had come. Students kept looking at the two of us, but I continued. I heard the quick and short steps of Okazaki chasing behind me, but this didn't hinder my pace.

"You're going to be late if you keep following me." I said, continuing farther and farther away from school.

"But you'll be late too." She said, pointing out the obvious.

"That's also true."

"Where are you going?" She asked, immediately.

"Home," I answered plainly.

"Eh? But school hasn't even started yet!" Okazaki then pulled on my sleeve, trying to stop me. But she was such a light girl that I had only started dragging her down the road. "Is this about your girlfriend?"

"I don't have a girlfriend!" I exclaimed, stopping. Okazaki suddenly fell into my back and wrapped her arms around my waist to try and keep herself from falling. Anyone who walked by at that moment definitely thought we were having a lover's quarrel. But even after Okazaki regained her balance, she still clung to me. "It is about the same girl though. Sort of," I said, feeling my cheeks start to blush as I looked at the ground.

Just as I was about to lay the situation on Okazaki, I heard a familiar male voice from in front of me say, "Yo, Yamada!" I felt sweat begin to accumulate on my forehead as I brought my head up from the ground and toward the familiar voice. It was Isogai. "I was going to say something, but then I noticed your lady friend there." Isogai said, pointing his finger at Okazaki.

"Although you say that, it looks like the situation didn't stop you from saying something," I mumbled to myself.

"So what's your name?" Isogai asked, stepping closer to Okazaki, but I didn't hear her reply. I could feel her trembling so I turned to look at her face. Okazaki's face was completely flushed red. She must have been in shock from realizing how we looked like this.

"Hey, Isogai, could you help pry her off me?" I asked, trying to loosen one of her arms from around my waist.

"Sure thing." Isogai then removed her other arm from my midsection. "I never knew you had fan girls, Yamada-senpai~."

"It's not like that. Anyway, she's in the same grade as us." I said, sitting Okazaki down at the curb of the road and then sitting beside her.

"Really?" Isogai asked, sitting beside me. "But I'm sure the Yamada fan-club is still growing."

"So far it's just you and Hirano," I replied, jokingly.

"Don't forget Kei." Isogai then began to scratch his chin. "The new girl will probably come around to join your fan club too." He then crossed his arms in a displeased manner and began to pout. "She doesn't seem to like me though, so I don't think she'll come over to mine."

I then said, "Uh, well speaking of Kei," I looked over to my side at Okazaki, but it looks like she's in a daze, still embarrassed at the incident that happened a few moments before. "You know I was wondering, what happened between the two of you?"

Unexpectedly, Isogai looked calm. Although he may have seemed calm to most people, he got into fights often. It was usually over trivial stuff too. Maybe he was calm because a friend was asking the question? Maybe he didn't think it was a big enough deal to get angry over? At the time, I didn't really know.

"Kei and I?" Isogai pondered for a moment, looking up toward the sky. "We just weren't meant to be in the first place. She's this beautiful, intelligent class rep., and I'm, well, a delinquent."

"But you weren't during your first year, right? You were on the basket ball team." I said, trying to defend him.

"Just because I was on a sports team, doesn't mean I was any different," Isogai said sternly, "You should know that too. Being on the basket ball team doesn't make you a good kid. A bunch of kids on that team are still self-glorifying idiots."

He was right. Being on the basket ball team didn't make me better, in fact, it made me act worse. "So was that why you quit? You couldn't stand any of the other guys?"

Isogai thought about that for a minute, making a displeased face that was plain to see. "Sounds about right."

"I guess I could see that." I honestly could, Isogai has always had a hard time dealing with people like them. "It kinda seems like we drifted away from the main discussion though."

"You're right," Isogai agreed with a grin, "I broke up with Kei a few days after I left the basket ball team. That must have been about June."

"Why'd you break up with her? Didn't you like Kei?"

"Of course I did. It's just that things weren't going anywhere, I could tell that much. Anyway, it's better this way; she can now go out with someone who has a future." Isogai stated, standing up from the curb. He then began climbing the hill to school, not looking back toward Okazaki or me.

"Are you two in a love triangle with this Kei girl?" I heard someone say from behind me. I turn around to see Okazaki sitting on the curb. I had completely forgot she was there until she said something.

"What? No, no, no. It's nothing like that." I instantly denied. "Wait, where did you hear the phrase 'love triangle' before? Is that something teenage girls normally talk about?"

"I don't know about that, but I've heard my Grandpa say that before." Okazaki replied.

_Looks like Okazaki's got a weird family, _I thought. _I can't say I want to meet her Grandfather._

"Anyway, we better hurry if we want to make it on time." I suggested, holding out my hand to help Okazaki up from the curb.

* * *

The day moved forward at a quick pace, maybe because the lessons were easier, or I was asleep longer than I was awake, I couldn't really tell. Then fourth period came around and the lunch bell rang. Along with the subtle and familiar bell chime, students exited and entered the classroom. I turned my attention over to Isogai's seat, however, he was nowhere to be found. I looked around the classroom, but I still didn't find him. It's not as if I was astonished that he was missing; I don't own him or anything like that, it's just kind of weird that I didn't notice him leave.

Nakamura-sensei was about to exit the classroom when I walked up to her and asked, "Morning, ma'am, did you see where Isogai went?"

"It's afternoon, and I should be the one asking you that." Nakamura-sensei said, putting her hands on her hips. "I don't know where he went after he asked to go to the bathroom during second period."

_Second period? He's been gone that long?_ I wondered.

"Uh, thanks, I'll tell you if I find him." I mumbled as I left the classroom.

"Yeah, sure." I heard Nakamura-sensei reply, knowing I had no intention of doing so.

I walked into the busy hallway as the juniors were commuting from their classrooms and to the cafeteria. "Yo, Yamada." I turned around to the voice and saw Hirano standing behind me with the transfer student. _That's right, I didn't get her name._

"Hey Hirano. Are you two in the same class?" I asked, scanning over the two of them.

"Tch, you came to that conclusion before thinking that the two of us were lovers looking for a place to eat lunch together." Hirano replied, sounding displeased.

"It's because I've known you for too long." I said, placing my right hand over my mouth as I let a yawn out.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Hirano asked.

"I know you don't have the looks _or_ personality to go out with a girl like her." I replied plainly, pointing at the new girl.

The new girl seemed a little embarrassed but she didn't blush, I'd guessed she had pretty good control over her emotions. However, Hirano seemed kind of pissed, not being able to control his emotions. "What the hell man?!" Hirano exclaimed. "You're my friend, right? So shouldn't you be saying I have an awesome personality in front of girls? Help out your lonely friend!"

"No, you've got it all wrong." I replied, holding up my index finger. "If I over-sell you, you wouldn't be able to live up to the hype. Think of it like this, if you hear about how awesome a movie is from a friend and go see it, the movie never lives up to the reputation your friend put it at, right?"

"I guess so." Hirano said, starting to believe the words that I was making up on the spot.

"Well it's like that. So you want someone to talk badly about you, so when girls talk to you with low expectations, they'll be caught completely off guard."

"Wow! Then talk badly about me as much as you want in front of girls!" Hirano exclaimed happily.

_ Well, it won't matter if girls don't talk to you because of your reputation... _I thought and then I then whispered to the new girl, "But it won't matter if I talk bad about him in front of girls if everything I say isn't only demeaning but also true." And she seemed to nod happily at this.

"Ah, but is Isogai here?" Hirano asked.

"I guess he left during second period. I was asleep, so I'm only going on what Nakamura-sensei told me." I replied, shrugging.

"Well, let's go to the cafeteria then." Hirano suggested.

"Yeah," I replied and then mumbled, "Seems like a while since I've eaten lunch there."

* * *

After lunch, the day seemed to go by slower than earlier in the morning. It might have had to do with Isogai's absence, even though it wasn't strange for any of the three of us to skip out on lessons. But, there was also the whole situation going on between Isogai and Kei that might have had me feeling uneasy.

Then homeroom ended and I found myself not moving from my seat. I had still been thinking about the events of earlier that day. Isogai didn't seem to mind my questioning, to my surprise, but he left school early in the day as well. _Maybe he really was bothered by it. Should I stop by his house? Oh wait... _I didn't know where he lived. I had considered us friends, but we still hadn't ever hung out at a mutual place like a house. I only knew where Hirano lived out of my friends. I knew generally where Kei lived, because we saw each other off a few times during our school life together, though not recently. _I could ask Kei about it. But do I really want to? I mean, I don't really want to end the kind of friendship that he and I have right now. If I try to investigate further with this, things will probably get even more uncomfortable between not only Kei and Isogai, but I'll be added to that as well. Is it worth it?_

Images of Kei then started popping into my mind. Her face was pressing against the cold railings of the school's rooftop and I could basically feel the chill of the early spring night breeze chill my bones. _Of course it's worth it. _"I really am a terrible guy." I muttered to myself, letting off a bitter smile. _A normal person wouldn't think about it. They'd just do it. Now all I have to do is find Kei. _

I got up from my seat and started out the hallway. That's when I'd noticed that many of the students had already left the hallway. _Kei probably already left. Maybe I can catch up to her. _With that in mind, I started my jog down the hallway. I'd been doing a lot of running around lately, and I started to feel it in my calves.

When I reached the first floor, I quickly went to my shoe locker and slipped off my indoor shoes. During the middle of this process, I heard a soft voice singing a foreign song. "Dan~go, dango, dango, dango, dan~go, dango daikazouku~."

"What is that?" I asked aloud, and the voice immediately stopped singing. Perhaps they were embarrassed? I walked around the shoe lockers to the other side to see a girl tying her shoes with flushed red cheeks. "So it was you, Okazaki." I stated in confirmation, to which Okazaki jumped as if I had startled her.

"Um, well, you see... It's cute, isn't it?" Okazaki asked, looking up at me. Her eyes were hoping for me to agree with her, like she wasn't allowed to decide what was cute without my approval.

"The song? I don't know about that. I mean, if I were the one singing it, I don't think that would be cute. But I do think it's cute when you sing it." I replied. "So, I guess I don't think the song's cute, but I think you singing it is."

"T-thank you very much." Okazaki said, finishing knotting her shoes.

_I guess she didn't get that I was indirectly calling her cute. It's probably better that way; I don't want her face getting any more embarrassed. _

"Um, Yamada-kun, why are you her so late?" Okazaki asked as she stood up from the floor.

"'Why' you ask?" I returned her question with a question and then the answer hit me. "That's right, I was chasing Kei."

"So Kei-san is your girlfriend?" Okazaki asked, looking up at me. There was a significant height difference that she just seemed to notice, because she was starting to put more weight on her toes, trying to compensate for the difference.

"Wrong." I lightly pushed on the top of Okazaki's head, returning the girl to her original height. "Anyway, I need to find the address of a friend of mine."

"But if this person is a friend, shouldn't you already know their address?" Okazaki questioned, trying to pry off my hand from her head.

_Ouch. It kind of sucked hearing that from someone else._ "You're right about that. I probably should know his address." I replied, pulling away my hand from her head.

"Well I don't really know myself; I don't have that many people I can call friends." Okazaki said, becoming flustered again.

"That's fine. It's not the quantity but the quality that matters. As long as you have one or two close friends, then that's great." So I said, but that sounded a little too corny for my taste, however.

Okazaki nodded vigorously and asked, "Would you like me to help you find this friend of yours?"

I chuckled a little. "I don't know if you'd know where Jun Isogai lived. Since you're a girl, you probably know who he is though."

Okazaki nodded once more. "I think I know where he lives."

_… Eh?_

* * *

The two of us walked past the shopping district in town and continued on the main road for a while. The sky had started to turn orange in color, so Okazaki said that she needed to call her house to inform her parents that she was going to be late in getting home. I offered her my cellphone, to which she accepted.

We sat at a bench outside the station. Okazaki flipped the phone open, dialed the number and held the phone against her ear with both hands. I was wondering if it was because she was being careful not to drop the phone or that the phone was to big for her to hold with one hand. I didn't ask her because I didn't want her to get embarrassed and drop the phone. She eventually started to speak after a few seconds of silence.

"Hello, mom? Yes, it's me. Oh... Yes, I'm doing well. What about you? That's good!" Okazaki said.

_It seems like Okazaki forgot the purpose of her call. And also, isn't this kind of a strange __conversation for a mother and daughter who see each other regularly to have?_

Okazaki seemed to remember why she called and then returned back to reality. "Right. Mom, is it all right if I stay out for a little longer than usual? Uh... Well... I don't know." Okazaki then turned to me and asked, "Are we friends?"

I scratched my chin and replied, "Sure, we've hung out and have talked a few times. Yeah, I'd say we're friends."

"Okay," Okazaki nodded and then said into the phone receiver, "Yes, I'm with a friend. Y-yeah, my friend is a boy. No, we're not like that-, what? No, I... hello?" After a few seconds of silence, Okazaki closed the phone and handed it to me.

"What did she say?" I had asked.

"She said I could stay out as long as I wanted. I'm just supposed to be quiet when returning so I don't wake my father."

"You've got a pretty lenient mother," I commented, even though I would stay out as late as I wanted.

We both walked for about another half hour, and then the sun was about to set. We passed a small park in the middle of a grouping of houses and that's when Okazaki stopped. She turned to me and said, "I don't exactly remember where Isogai-san lives, because it's been a while, but my grandparents probably do. I think Isogai-san lives around here, but I don't remember what house."

"Okay, so do your grandparents live around here?" I asked, my eyes scanning the vicinity.

"Yep. This way." Okazaki said and lead on. Soon, we came to a building with a sign on the front that read, "Furukawa Bakery".

"Is this where they live?" I asked.

"Yes. They own a bakery." Okazaki said, sliding open the door to the store. She called, "Sanae! Akii!"

"You can go look for them. I'll just wait here." I said.

"Okay. I'll return soon." Okazaki replied, and went further into the bakery.

"Hopefully." I said under my breath.

After a minute or two, I could hear someone approaching from inside the store. "So did you find them-." I looked over to who had walked out of the hallway, but it wasn't Okazaki. A beautiful woman with long brown hair walked out from the hallway. She looked to be about the age of Okazaki's mother. _Perhaps she's visiting?_

"Welcome to the store." The woman said cheerfully.

_I guess this woman really was Okazaki's grandmother, _I slumped my shoulders, _how did I find her before Okazaki did?_

"Would you like to try our new breakfast bread? I know it's a little late, but it should be fine." The woman said.

"Oh, but I didn't bring any money with me." I replied.

"That's fine; it's left over. Besides that, you remind me of a young man that I met a few years ago." She smiled warmly.

"Well, alright." I picked up a loaf of bread and looked at it. It looked normal enough. I looked back at Okazaki's grandmother to see her anticipating my opinion of the bread. I then took a bite of bread. Munch, munch... Munch.

_Now I get why this is a breakfast bread, _I thought, _Who would put cereal in bread?_

"So what do you think?" She asked with a hopeful smile.

_Should I be honest with her? If I'm not, a customer will have to eat this._

"To be honest, it's not all that enjoyable." I said, looking down at the bread in my hand.

"Is it the taste?" The woman asked, sounding shocked.

"Well, the bread itself tastes a little strange for cereal to be added to it. Neither the cereal nor the bread taste bad; it's just strange to add this cereal to this kind of bread, I suppose." I explained to her. "But I'd say the most unattractive thing about the bread would be how awkward it is to eat."

I looked back at the woman to see her shoulders trembling. _Wait, did I make her cry? Dammit._

"But you know, the bread itself tastes fine, so I'd think that'd be fine to sell. But if you did that, you'd have to change the name." I had continued.

The woman looked up at me, tears lining the brims of her eyes and spoke with a shaky voice. "So my bread isn't... My bread isn't..." Then the woman ran past me yelling, "Worth being sold for breakfast!"

_Isn't she a professional?! I thought she would take criticism better than that!_ I thought while watching the woman run out of the store and turn down the street.

Suddenly, I felt someone grip my shoulder from behind. "Hey kid," A menacing voice said, "Shouldn't you watch what you say to the elderly?!"

I turned my head around to see a big guy with reddish brown hair barking in my face. The guy was about the same height as me, but I could tell that he was stronger just by the grip he put on my shoulder. "What the hell are you spouting?! Anyway, that woman looked to be _at most_ in her late thirties!"

"Sanae? I guess she's getting up there, now-a-days. Wait a minute!" The man pushed me against the wall with his right hand and then brought a baseball bat up (which he must have been holding, but I didn't notice) and held it against the bottom of my chin. "What do you think you're saying about my wife?!"

"What are you talking about?! I complimented her by saying she didn't look old enough to be called elderly!" I replied, gritting my teeth because of the baseball bat being held against my jaw.

"And that's why I'm punishing you!" The man said, still holding me against the wall. "It should be the job of the _husband_ to compliment his woman! Not some random guy!"

"So you'd rather me insult her?!" I exclaimed, replying to his idiotic logic.

"Yes! Wait, no, of course not! How can you call yourself a man if you insult a woman!"

"You just called your wife elderly!" I said pushing away the man.

Just then, Okazaki came running out the hallway that she had entered a few minutes before this strange incident. "Akii! Yamada-kun! Why are you two yelling so much?" Okazaki asked, standing next to "Akii".

"Oh, Ushio! It's a good thing you came. I'll leave driving out this punk to you." The man said, walking toward the hallway, but then he turned around. "Wait, you're wearing the same uniform as Ushio."

"We're friends, Akii." Okazaki replied to the man's observation.

"But my granddaughter is so cute, shouldn't she make cute friends too?!" The man asked, in disbelief.

_ I'm pretty sure you shouldn't really say that in front of the person you're talking about._

"Jeez, how will I ever get my harem?" The man continued.

_And I'm definitely sure you shouldn't say that in front of anyone!_

"Where's Sanae, Akii?" Okazaki asked, either oblivious to what the man just said, or not really caring about it.

"Ah, she went out for a jog." The man responded calmly, a lot more calm than he was earlier.

_Is that what you'd call it?_

"Is that so? I was hoping to ask her a question." Okazaki stated, sounding disappointed.

"What is it? I'll answer it if I can. Ah, unless it's about... Girl _stuff_." The man said, returning to the room.

"Do you know where Isogai-san lives?" Okazaki asked.

"Isogai, you say," The old man rubbed his chin, "Yep, lives two houses down on the right when you exit the store. But why do you want to know about that?"

"Yamada-kun wants to visit them." Okazaki replied, pointing at me.

"Heh, I don't want this punk harassing my neighbors." The man said, showing his distaste at Okazaki's statement.

"Don't worry about it," I said,"I don't plan on going over today; it seems a little late to be disturbing someone now. I can probably do it tomorrow."

"It seems my gentleman quality is already starting to rub off." The man said, nodding in self-gratitude.

"Akio-san, are you making fun of our customer?" The woman from before asked, walking into the store. She had a smile on her face like she was never even crying.

"Of course not, Sanae," The man named Akio walked up to me and wrapped his arm over my shoulder, "we're just having some fun. Isn't that right, kid?"

"You might be the only one having fun," I mumbled.

"Please don't mind Akio-san. My name is Sanae Furukawa." Sanae said, slightly bowing.

"Sure. I'm Hisashi Yamada. It's nice to meet you, Sanae-san." I replied, with more of a nod than a bow.

"Yes!" Sanae agreed. "Ushio-chan, would you and your friend like to have dinner here? As long as your parents know." Sanae looked at me but I quickly shook my hand to dismiss the idea.

"Thanks, but I don't want to impose on you." I stated.

"Oh, don't worry, it's so much nicer to eat with company. Isn't that right, Akio-san?" Sanae asked, turning to Akio, who was now more of leaning on me.

"My granddaughter's the only one I need." Akio said, sounding somewhat sad.

"I'll take you up on your offer then." I replied and the old man pushed away from me.

"Tch, I never knew I'd have to deal with another punk like this." Akio said, walking further into the Furukawa household.

The three of us followed behind him and I turned to Okazaki asking, "Do you know what the old man's talking about?"

Okazaki shook her head. "I don't think so."

We all ate dinner together that night, sort of like a family would. And although Sanae-san seemed to be bad at baking bread, her culinary skill was surprisingly excellent.


	4. April 19, Thursday

**April 19, Thursday**

I rustled around underneath my covers. The bed felt, for some reason, warmer than it usually did. Maybe it was cold out? I didn't need to open my eyes to know if the sun was out yet, because there wasn't any painfully bright light burning into my eyelids. _I guess I woke up early, _I thought.

My eyes lightly opened to see a dark room, which wasn't very surprising. I yawned and rubbed the side of my face against my pillow as I looked toward my clock. I closed my eyes and sighed, "Damn." The clock read 10:48. I had slept in. It wasn't weird for me to be late to school, but I was off to a good start this year.

I sat up in bed and my blanket slowly slipped off from my shoulder. I then stretched my arms toward the ceiling in a yawn and could feel the goosebumps springing up over my skin. The small bumps were visible up and down my arms and also along my chest. It really did feel cold out, like it was still March. My head turned to look out the window. Rain. The sky was gray and small drops could be seen falling from the clouds. _I guess that's why I thought it was earlier than it was. _The clouds were blocking out the sun.

I quickly got dressed and walked downstairs. My mom had gone off to work, and the house was quiet. The only thing that could be heard was the drum of rain outside an open window. _What a dreary day_, I had thought. _Wait, do I even have an umbrella? Mom probably took one, I wonder where she got it._

I walked to the closet next to the entrance in my house, thinking this was the most logical place to keep an umbrella. I turned the doorknob to the closet only to hear the sound of rustling. Then a few brooms and a mop fell onto me, creating huge pile of dust. I coughed and felt dust fall into my eyes. In retaliation to this, I rubbed my eyes to stop them from stinging, however, that didn't work all too well.

In between coughs I grumbled, "I thought she cleaned this place more often."

I walked to the kitchen again, but this time I noticed something I hadn't earlier. There was an umbrella sitting on the table with a note beside it reading, "Hope you have a good day at school." I picked the umbrella up with one hand and stuffed the note into my pocket.

Outside, the rain was coming down at a moderate rate. Now, I didn't really mind rain, except when it made the outside much colder than it was. Today was one of those days. What made things even worse was that this umbrella had a hole in it, not too big of a hole, hardly noticeable in fact, unless taken into examination. And this hole was right in front of my face, so I had a not-so-pleasant surprise when I turned the umbrella and a few cold rain drops landed on my face. It did wake me up though.

When I got to school, it was third period. I dropped my umbrella off at the rack in front of the junior shoe lockers along with the others. I then slipped on my indoor shoes, letting my wet shoes hang out in my locker. After that, I went to the bathroom and put my uniform sleeves under the hand dryer. I figured it was alright since I was already late, a few more minutes wouldn't matter. After hanging out in the bathroom for a few minutes, I splashed water in my face to try and wake up. I then departed for the classroom.

* * *

I slid open the door in the middle of Nakamura-sensei saying something in English. I didn't know what the hell she was saying, but I still had time to learn, right?

"Yamada? I was wondering if you were going to show up." Nakamura-sensei said, looking disappointed. "Any particular reason why you're late?"

"I slept in. Sorry." I said, standing in the doorway to the classroom.

"Well, at least you don't make up any stupid excuses like Isogai." Nakamura-sensei stated, pointing at Isogai, who was now sitting up straight in his seat.

"But Sensei, I had to show my cousin around town! She's going to be staying with us for a couple days and I didn't want her to be lost while I was at school!" Isogai said, trying to defend himself. "What if she was on her way to the grocery store and ended up in the wrong part of town? She could be snatched up by Yakuza!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. But why does your cousin come to visit you every month?" Nakamura-sensei asked. "I mean you used that excuse multiple times last year. And I would think that your cousin would know her way around by now."

"Sensei~," Isogai said, sounding almost as if he was correcting a child. "You underestimate the Isogai family. I have _many _cousins and other family members to show off this wonderful town to."

"Well, I marked you as tardy regardless." Nakamura-sensei replied.

Isogai then woefully stated, "Don't be so heartless, Sensei~," As he slumped in his chair.

"Take your seat, Yamada." Nakamura-sensei said and then turned to the black board to write something.

At Nakamura-sensei's words, I made my way toward the back where my seat was located. "Oh yeah. Since you weren't here this morning, Yamada, I guess I'd better tell you now. During fifth period, our class will be going down to the nurse for the yearly physical along with the rest of the junior classes." Nakamura-sensei told me.

"Wait, all the Junior classes are going? Doesn't that seem a little disorganized?" I asked.

"I understand what you're saying. But it seems that the school board had nearly forgotten about the yearly physicals, so they just quickly put this together. Usually, the yearly physicals happen on the second day of school, so no sports clubs would be disrupted. I'm not very happy about it either. The track and field club hasn't been able to practice some events because of this delay." Nakamura-sensei sighed.

"Huh? Wait," Isogai said suddenly, "That's today? Why didn't you say anything earlier Sensei?" Isogai asked, surprised.

"I was waiting for Yamada to show up so I didn't have to say it twice. Why? You shouldn't be embarrassed about anything; you're not in bad shape." Nakamura-sensei teased, but Isogai didn't seem to find it amusing.

"Well, then can I go to the bathro-," Isogai began to ask, but Nakamura-sensei interrupted him.

"No. You left yesterday when I let you go." Nakamura-sensei said, opening up her text book to resume lessons.

Isogai leaned back in seat, brooding over Nakamura-sensei's reply. But it did seem strange. I was kind of happy about this; we basically weren't doing anything for fifth and sixth period. So why was Isogai so upset over this? Like Nakamura-sensei said, Isogai is still very fit from playing basketball for years. It's also not like he was short or anything. Maybe he was embarrassed about how skinny he was? I couldn't figure it out.

* * *

Lunch came around after spending most of my afternoon trying to finish my homework that was due first period, but Nakamura-sensei didn't ask me for it. I'd just planned on handing it into her the next day, saying I forgot to give it to her. And out of nowhere, Isogai slammed his hands on my desk while I was concentrating on a math problem. I nearly fell out of my desk, to which he laughed at.

"What the hell was that for?!" I exclaimed angrily.

"Just making sure you're awake." Isogai replied happily. "Hey, why don't we leave and go to the arcade or something?"

"Why would you wanna leave on such an easy day like this? It's not like we're gonna do anything for the rest of the day." I asked, trying to compose myself.

"Yeah, that's why! We're not _doing _anything. That's way too boring for me." Isogai said. "We can go get Hirano too."

"No way man. I'm not gonna risk getting a detention over leaving early on such an easy day." I replied, putting my homework away. "Now come on, let's go get lunch."

"Fine, you go get your lunch. I'm leaving!" Isogai said, trying to make a scene like a kid. He did this when I wouldn't agree to his ridiculous demands. But then he bolted out the door. A few seconds later I heard Nakamura-sensei scream and then a loud thud. Nakamura-sensei dragged Isogai into the classroom and sat him at his desk.

"This one's staying with me for lunch." Nakamura-sensei said, opening her lunch and sitting beside Isogai. "Now try to come up with good conversation so I won't be bored, or you'll get a lesson about sexual harassment." She then took a bite of her sandwich.

"Yes, ma'am~." Isogai replied, sounding defeated.

I left to go eat lunch with Hirano and the new girl.

* * *

After lunch, I came back to my classroom to see all the students standing up. I guessed they were waiting to be called down to the nurses office. Isogai was sitting at his desk, looking genuinely troubled. I walked over to him and asked, "How was lunch?"

He didn't find this amusing in the slightest as he gave me a glare. "You just abandoned me man. I thought you were my friend, my hombre, my wing-man, the peanut butter to my jelly!"

"Okay, first of all, what? And second of all, what was I supposed to do?" I asked.

"I don't know; I'm the looks of our group! You're the brains, the new girl's the muscle, and Hirano's the wild card!" Isogai exclaimed and a few classmates started looking our way. "By the way, we really need to learn her name."

"Agreed. But it seems a little weird to introduce ourselves now; she knows our names, after all. We just never asked for hers." I said, feeling kind of guilty.

"Yeah man. I'd say it's Hirano's fault. He's in her class, but he still hasn't told us her name." Isogai said, nodding to himself as if it really was his fault. "Let's jump him on our way home from school."

"Or we could ask him for her name?" I suggested.

Isogai seemed happy at my suggestion. "See, this is why you're the brains!"

Nakamura-sensei then entered the classroom saying, "All right, it's time to go down to the nurse's office. Don't make too much noise on your way down. Once you're physical is over with, you can sign out at the guidance office and leave school."

"Whoa, that's pretty cool." I said.

"Yeah." Isogai agreed, in a melancholic tone.

"Well, we might as well get it over with." I said and we both made our way toward the nurses office.

When we got there, Hirano was with the new girl standing behind the crowd of students trying to get their physicals done and subsequently, leave school early. There was a bigger build up of students than at lunch.

"Yo Yamada, Isogai!" Hirano called out to us as we came closer. A devilish grin spread over his face and he then pat my stomach as we came closer. "You worried about all that weight you gained during your absence from sports?"

"You worried about all that lack of weight missing in your head?" I asked, knocking my fingers on his forehead. "It even sounds a little hollow."

Hirano brushed my hand away and asked, "So who's the nurse, anyway? I heard we got a new one this year."

"Yeah, her name's Miyamoto-sensei." I said.

"Do you think I have a shot with her?!" Hirano asked suddenly.

"You haven't even met her yet." I said.

After a while, the crowd withered down and Miyamoto-sensei came out of the nurses office and called for someone named, Hitomi Okamoto. I had guessed they were now trying to be more organized and then the new girl walked toward the nurse's office. I turned to Isogai and said, "I guess that's her name."

"I guess so." Hirano agreed.

"You mean you didn't know?!" Isogai asked, astounded.

"Let's just go back to the original plan." I said, to which Isogai agreed.

"Original plan...?" Hirano asked worried. Then he smiled deviously and walked up to the nurses door, putting his ear to it. "You know," Hirano began, "It's hard to tell a girl's measurements when they're wearing a school uniform sometimes."

"Okay, but it's not like she's going to be measured _that _way." I said. "I mean the nurse doesn't measure our-"

"Oh!" Hirano said. "She's 5' 4" and 104 lbs."

"Okay, but that's normal. It's not like she' going to be-" Hirano cut me off again.

"Her bust is 86 centimeters, her waist is 56 centimeters, and her hips are 84 centimeters!"

"Wait, what!?" I pulled Hirano away from the door by his head. "That's extremely private; you shouldn't hear something like that!"

"I know, but she has a way better body than I thought!" Hirano said happily. "And also, our nurse is really hot too! Isn't that like something out of a manga or por-"

"No, just shut up!" I said, clasping my hand on his mouth before he could say more.

"But it's like, 'Yamada-kun, I've come to give you a sponge bath to make you feel better.'" Hirano said, putting an image in my head that was less than family friendly, to which I shook off.

"There's no way a school nurse would do something like that!" I exclaimed.

Then the door opened and Okamoto walked out, her face beet red. I really hoped she didn't hear what Hirano and I was talking about. She walked over to us and stood next to Isogai. "So how'd it go?" Isogai asked.

"Miyamoto-sensei said that I'm very healthy and..." Her voice drifted off. "I-I would be a real catch to any guy." She pretty much whispered the last part.

"Well that's pretty hard to dispute, right, Yamada?" Isogai asked, a smile on his face.

_He's just trying to make things more awkward!_ I thought.

Okamoto looked at me, her expression was so nervous and embarrassed, she almost looked like a different person compared to the normal Okamoto. But she looked so cute like that, my heart practically skipped a beat when her eyes met mine.

"Well, y-you're," I began. _Damn, what should I say? Well, I might as well tell the truth. _"Y-yeah, you're cute."

I thought she was going to faint when I said that. Isogai was supporting her while laughing when I heard from behind me, "Hisashi Yamada?" I turned around to see Miyamoto-sensei looking at me, smiling.

"Guess it's my turn." I said, walking to the school nurse. I followed her into the office and she closed the door behind me.

"Good to see you again, Yamada-kun." Miyamoto-sensei smiled. "I hope you haven't been getting into any trouble."

"Looks like I made a bad first impression," I sighed, "if that's the first thing you say to me."

"Sorry." She said, still smiling.

_I was just kidding! But she actually thinks that! _I thought, having a defeated look on my face.

"Now take off your shoes, then I'll check your height and weight." She said cheerfully.

I kicked off my indoor shoes and stood on the scale sitting next to the wall. Miyamoto-sensei then came up and read the numbers on the scale. "It looks like you're about one hundred and forty five pounds. Now please come over here." She took me to the right of the scale to some device on the wall that measures height. I put my heels to the wall and then Miyamoto-sensei pushed down some plastic indicator on top of my head that helped read my height. "All right, you're just under six feet tall. You'll probably break it next year."

"Thanks." I walk over to my shoes but Miyamoto-sensei stops me.

"I still have more to check, Yamada-kun~." Miyamoto-sensei giggled.

_Oh god, please tell me she's not actually going to measure that-, _My thoughts were interrupted by Miyamoto-sensei pulling me toward her.

"Now take off your shirt." Miyamoto-sensei commanded, holding a stethoscope in hand. I complied, untying my tie and then unbuttoning my blazer and shirt. "Oh wow! You've got a muscular physique. I didn't think you played sports." She pressed the stethoscope against my chest and brought her head closer for some reason, as if it would help her hear my heartbeat.

"I-I don't." I cringed as the cold metal pressed against my skin. It probably would've been way less awkward if she didn't comment on my body like that.

Miyamoto-sensei then suddenly pressed her hand against my abdomen, pushing away from me. _Okay, is she trying to make me feel awkward?! _I thought. She walked over to a cot and motioned for me to sit on it by tapping her hand against it. I walked over to her and sat on the cot, trying to look away from her, however, she was trying to make eye contact with me. She then began to take my blood pressure.

"Alright." Miyamoto-sensei stated. "You also have bigger biceps than I thought you would."

_I know you're complimenting me, but please stop! _I walked over toward my shirt once more, but Miyamoto-sensei grabbed my arm.

"There's still one more thing." She said. "Please pull down your pants."

_It's here! _

"I need to check for a hernia." the nurse stated.

_O-oh._

I did as ordered and pulled down my pants and then my underwear. _Please don't say anything. Please don't comment on anything, _I prayed. And then she was done. Done without saying anything embarrassing! I pulled up my pants and then buttoned my blazer and shirt.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Everything seems average." She then giggled. "And some things _above_ average."

_Dammit! She said it anyway! _My face absolutely flushed red, but she only seemed to giggle at this.

I left the nurse's office and Miyamoto-sensei called out from behind me, "Bye, Hisashi!"

My face was completely red when I saw Kei standing next to Okamoto. Both of them were trying not to make eye contact with me and their faces were almost as red as mine. Kei then couldn't stand my looking at her and finally broke. Turning her head to look at me she asked, "W-what?!"

"Why is your face so red?" I asked.

"T-that's a stupid question to ask when your face is as red as a tomato!" Kei said, crossing her arms over her chest.

I turned to look at Okamoto and asked, "Then why is your face so red?"

She lowered her head and began to stammer something. "A-a-above..."

"Above? Above what?" I asked.

"... Average." She whispered softly.

My face became even redder than before. I could feel my ears heating up from the embarrassment. "T-then you two were listening in on...!"

"Hirano told us you listened in on Okamoto, so we... took appropriate action!" Kei exclaimed, trying to defend herself.

"You bastard!" I exclaimed and Hirano was gone in a flash.

He called back to me yelling, "Bye, Hisashi~!"

* * *

I was about to explode from embarrassment when the nurse's office door opened. Miyamoto-sensei called, "Takumi Hirano." But he had already left.

"He left school," I said.

"Oh, that's a shame. Then, Jun Isogai." She called, but Isogai didn't move. "Jun Isogai? Has anyone seen Jun Isogai?" Both Kei and I looked at him, but then Kei lowered her head. "Jun Iso-"

"I'm here." Isogai said solemnly, pushing off the wall he was leaning on.

"Oh, well come on in." Miyamoto-sensei said and closed the door behind him.

After a few minutes I could hear Isogai yell something. _Is Miyamoto-sensei trying to embarrass him too? _I wondered. Isogai stormed out of the room, his blazer unbuttoned and his shirt not buttoned all the way. He was holding his tie in hand as he moved toward the front exit.

"What the hell's going on?" I asked aloud. I walked toward Miyamoto-sensei who seemed to be troubled and asked, "What happened?"

"Hisashi! Well, I'm not sure if I can tell you." She said.

"I'm his friend; maybe I can help in some way?" I asked.

"Well, when Isogai-san unbuttoned his shirt, I could see marks and bruises all over his body. They covered his abdomen, back and chest. He also had two scars on his forearm." Kei seemed to almost yell at hearing this. "He said that he was in a bad fight recently, and I told him that I still had to call his home about it. When I said this, he yelled at me and started throwing a fit. He was saying there wasn't any need to call his house about it because he already confirmed it. When I said that wasn't good enough, and needed confirmation from his parents, he left."

"I'll go catch him." I said, running toward the front entrance. I could hear both Kei and Miyamoto-sensei call after me. But I couldn't stop, I had to figure out what was going on once and for all. I slowed down a little once I came to the shoe lockers, but it would take too much time to do that. _But my locker's broken!_ I remembered. I quickly slipped off my indoor shoes and threw them in the locker. I then slid one shoe on my right foot and slid the left shoe halfway onto my foot before I started running again. Once I was out of the building, I started to sprint, as there was less chance of me running into anyone.

As I reached the bottom of the hill, I asked which way Isogai went to students. And this continued into town. I asked people where he had gone by describing him to strangers. They would point me in one direction and I would follow it. This continued for about two hours. I was at my breaking point. I couldn't run any longer. Sweat dripped down my forehead and back as I hunched over, gasping for oxygen. I fell to my knees as I could barely stand. I then noticed something. I was at that place. That place Okazaki took me the day before. The Furukawa Bakery.

* * *

As I watched drops of sweat slide down my face and land on the pavement below, I heard someone approach me. The footsteps were light, as if the person was trying to sneak up on me. But I could tell that wasn't it, it was more of this person had a fragile existence, as if they could disappear at any given moment. I heard a soft voice ask, "Are you all right?" I looked up to try and see their face, but the light from inside the shop was blinding, creating a shadow over the woman's face. She almost looked like a faceless angel.

"I-I'm fine." I tried to push myself up from the pavement, but my strength was gone. I tried once more with all my strength to get up, but I couldn't.

The woman knelt beside me and offered her hand to me saying, "Even the strongest of people sometimes need a hand." I placed my hand on top of hers, and that was enough to give me strength. It was as if her own strength was pouring into me to revitalize my body. This woman looked frail, but I could feel how strong she really was.

"Why's that?" I asked, standing up.

"Because there are some things even the strongest people can't do alone." The woman said, "That's why we need someone to help us up when we fall down."

"But what if we want to stay down?" I asked, looking down on the woman.

"Someone will still help us back up, even if we don't want it." The woman smiled earnestly. "That's what love is. It helps us stand back up, even when we don't want to. Love can help us back up, but it can also knock us down."

"I guess that's why they say 'love in moderation.'" I said, feeling something strange with this woman's words.

The woman giggled. "I guess you're right."

This woman spoke in a familiar fashion. The same way another girl I know speaks. But this woman's words seem weighted in power and experience. "I'm Hisashi Yamada. And you must be Okazaki-san."

"Yes, pleased to meet you. My name is Nagisa." The woman smiled. "You're exactly as my daughter described you. Big, tall, and strong."

"Wha-, Okazaki said that?" I asked. "Strong, huh..."

"Oh my!" Nagisa-san suddenly said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's just," Nagisa-san began, "You remind me a lot of someone I met a long time ago."

"Huh?" I asked, dumbfounded. "I'm getting that a lot lately."

She giggled. "It's not a bad thing. It's actually a very good thing. I think you'll... no, I'm sure you'll turn out like him."

"After I get stronger, huh?" I asked.

"Yep." She said, nonchalantly.

"But how do I do that?" I asked.

Nagisa-san then put her finger to her chin, thinking. "I think it would be better for you to find that out on your own. It would have more significance that way."

I smiled at her. "I guess you're right." I then began to walk forward, with more confidence than I did before. It was as if my encounter with Nagisa-san made me just a little bit stronger. "Oh, I almost forgot." I said, turning around. "Have you seen a guy that's a little shorter than me run by here? He has black hair."

"You mean Isogai-kun?" Nagisa-san asked and then thought to herself for a moment. When she was done thinking, she smiled at me and pointed at a park across from the bakery. "Sometimes, the things you're looking for have been right in front of you the whole time." Nagisa-san then walked into the bakery.

* * *

I stood there looking at the park for a moment, thinking about what might happen next. But then it hit me: that didn't matter. I had to do something. I wouldn't even be here if I wasn't going to do anything. Why would I run around for hours to only do nothing in the end? If I did that, I really would be an idiot. Maybe Isogai would ignore me, maybe he would hate me, maybe he would beat me, _who cares? I'm not going to live my life thinking about all the precautions and if any of that happens, then it happens. I'm definitely not gonna regret trying to help my friend._

I then walked across the street, moving into the park. Kids were starting to leave as the sun was about to start receding over thehorizon in a few minutes. I started to look around the park as I noticed Isogai sitting on a swing in the corner. He was sitting next to a kid, the kid was probably in elementary school. And what seemed weird was that the two of them looked like they were having fun. I wondered if Isogai really was having fun. Isogai then said something and the two of them began to laugh. Isogai looked like a kid. That was a sight anyone could smile at. Seeing Isogai's childish smile, I started to smile too. It was as if nothing in the world was bad and someone could be innocent forever, that was Isogai's expression.

I then walked up to the two of them, I didn't want to break the mood, but I went there to do something. I wasn't going to leave without doing it. "Yo, Isogai." I said, a smile on my face.

Isogai looked up at me, he had a hint of surprise in his eyes but he didn't let it show on his face. "Hey, Yamada." The kid next to him seemed to get tense when I came over. But Isogai's smile reassured the boy that it was fine for me to come over. "This guy might look tall and scary, but he's nice enough."

"Nice enough?" I asked playfully, "Now who's the one not being nice here?"

"Hey now, it's not like I'm mean or anything; you just have to earn my kindness." Isogai replied in the same fashion. This seemed to make the boy even less tense.

"Aniki can be a bit mean at times." The boy said, smiling.

"What?" Isogai asked, astounded. "I'm the nicest guy around."

"It's just when we play baseball sometimes, you get into it." The boy replied.

"It's the old man that starts it!" Isogai tried to defend himself.

"You mean Furukawa?" I asked.

"He just gets mad that I can beat him now that he's getting old." Isogai said triumphantly. "Oh Masato, it's probably about time for you to go."

"I can stay a few more minutes." The boy said, hopefully.

"No way. I'm not gonna hear the end of it if your sister finds out I kept you out late again." Isogai replied. "We can hang out again tomorrow."

"Alright. You better be here right after school." The boy said, getting up from the swing.

"Give me a break kid. It's a long walk." Isogai called after the boy as he left. "Kids these days have too much energy."

"Have you known that kid for a while? He seems fond of you." I asked sitting in the swing beside Isogai.

"I've known him for two years now." Isogai replied, a small smile on his face. "He moved to this town because of his parent's work. He had to move in with his older sister. Masato didn't have any friends at school and spent most his time just doing nothing at his house. One day, during the summer, we were playing baseball out here, but my team was missing a player. I saw him looking at the game through his window." Isogai pointed at a house close to the park. "I called him out to play for us, and after a little persuasion, he joined our team. On the last inning, Masato hit an inside the park home run, resulting in us winning. He looked so happy, it was astonishing. He's never been alone since then, making friends with all the neighborhood kids."

"So you helped a kid in his time of need. That sounds a lot like you." I commented.

"It's just that I see a lot of myself in him. The old man did something similar for me a long time ago. I couldn't really pay him back for it, so I can only just pay it forward and hope that Masato does the same."

"I'm sure he will if he's ever faced with something like that. After all, he does seem like you." I replied. After a few moments of silence, I spoke. "So why did you leave school like that?"

"What do you mean? Nakamura-sensei said we could leave after our physical." Isogai replied.

"Not half way through the physical." I said. "And you seemed pretty angry when you left."

"It's because the nurse was lying. She said I was only 5' 9" when I know for a fact I'm 5' 10"." Isogai replied, jokingly.

"Then what about the bruises and scars?" I asked seriously.

"I wonder what ever happened to doctor-patient confidentiality..." Isogai mumbled.

"What happened to you and what does it have to do with Kei?" Isogai seemed to have a pained expression on his face, but was trying to cover it with a smile.

"I just got ruffed up in a fight. But it doesn't have anything to do with Kei." Isogai said,

"Then why did she react so much to hearing you have these bruises and scars?" I asked calmly.

Isogai tried to keep his composure, but he was breaking. "Why does it matter Yamada?" Isogai asked through clenched teeth. "Why can't you just ignore this and we can act like idiots together again?"

"I'm not going to push aside reality and turn my head in ignorance." I replied, looking into Isogai's eyes. "There's no way I'd take the easy road when it comes to something like this."

"That's fine for you." Isogai said, standing up from the swing. "But I'm going to keep acting the way I always do. That's the least I can do for Masato and everyone else."

"So that's it." I stated. "You're like how Masato was back then. No one knew his heart because he didn't open it up to anyone. That's how you are now, right Isogai?" Isogai stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around to look at me. "You let him open up to you and the others. So open up to me now. Open up your heart to Kei and Hirano. Open your heart to all your friends."

"But then..." Isogai's voice trailed off. "Nothing will be the same. We won't be able to laugh like we used to or be idiots all the time. I definitely don't want that."

"You're wrong." I said, getting up from the swing and walking toward Isogai. "We will be able to. We'll definitely be able to. Because we're friends. You'll be able to laugh freely, just like Masato." I stopped a few feet behind Isogai.

"I don't want to sound pathetic." Isogai said.

"That's fine." I reassured him. "We're friends after all."

"When I was a kid, I loved my mom and dad." Isogai said. "We went out to the park and had picnics. I would lay my head on my mom's lap and fall asleep in the summer sun. My dad would carry me back while I was asleep and I'd wake up on the train, leaning against him. He would tell me stories about him and his parents and I would think about how his parents treated him the same as mine did me. When I was around eight years old, my mom was killed by a mugger when my dad wasn't with her. He had to work late and couldn't walk her home. I came home from elementary school and was told the news and cried for what seemed like an eternity. After a while, I went back to school, but nothing seemed right. It seemed weird that the world could function without my mom, because she was the center of mine. No one acted differently, it was only me. I was the one acting differently.

"The old man found me one day, just hanging out in the park when I was visiting my grandma. He helped me up for a time. I started playing sports and found out I was pretty good at them. During middle school, I tried out for basketball, even though I only had seen it on TV and played it a few times in gym. But I was good at it. It felt good... having something. Then I got a scholarship to Hikarizaka and played as a starter as a freshman. I could hardly believe it. And then I asked Kei out after spending some time with her. I think I definitely might have loved her." Then Isogai clenched his teeth. "But then my dad killed himself in May last year."

I was shocked. I didn't know any of this. _Why did I have to wait until now to be a friend?!_

"I stopped going to class and practice. The school called the house a few times, but then I just unplugged the phone from the wall. They even called my cell phone, but then I turned that off. Kei came a few days later. She just came at the wrong time. I took a big kitchen knife and cut my wrist twice."

_Dammit!_

"I did that to make sure I died. I had heard about failed suicide attempts like that, so I cut myself twice to make sure I'd die. The cuts were pretty deep and started bleeding out onto my clothes. I didn't even hear Kei open the front door. She came into my room to find me sitting against my bed with blood stains all over my pants and rug. I didn't notice her until she screamed. I think she thought I was dead already. She didn't even know my dad had died, so she tried to console me without understanding what was going on. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. She tried to bandage my arms, but I put up a fight, that is until I lost feeling in my body. I feel sorry for covering her in my blood. Apparently my neighbor saw someone "break" into my house. So the police had arrived just when I passed out. I guess I was only about a minute away from dying when they patched me up. If my neighbor didn't call the police, I would be dead right now.

"Apparently I passed a psychological test that said I wasn't in the right state of mind at the time of my attempted suicide, but I was fine when released from the hospital. I broke up with Kei a few days after I got out of the hospital and was put in therapy for about six months until they thought I was stable. I thought breaking up with Kei would be a good thing, but it only made me more depressed. The only ones at school who know about this are Kei and the principle. My past is probably the only reason I haven't been expelled yet. So, I guess that explains the scars on my arm." Isogai rolled up the sleeve of his uniform and exposed the two scars on his arm. "The bruises I got from a fight I was in on Tuesday. I actually saw you after the fight. You were taking a walk and I thought you saw me smoking a cigarette after the fight, so I ran away. But you didn't mention it, so I guess you didn't notice it was me."

"I remember that. I was taking a morning walk and noticed someone smoking, I couldn't see who it was in the dark though." I replied. "But why were you fighting?"

"Some punks thought they were cool and started harassing two girls on their way to the train station trying to get to work. So I kicked their asses. Or well, they kicked my ass, but I think I did well for four on one."

I sat down on the end of a slide and said, "Man, you're way too crazy; you're going to get hurt one of these days."

"I think I'm already hurt. It feels like I have a bruised rib or something." Isogai said, sitting down next to me.

"It's your own damn fault." I sighed. "So if you lost your parents, do you live with your grandparents?"

"No, I live on my own." Isogai replied.

"It's got to be lonely in that house, right?" I asked.

"I guess." Isogai replied, looking toward the setting sun.

"Then why not come live with me?"

Isogai looked at me, surprised. "Live with you? But..."

"My mom would be alright with it." I said. "If you want to."

"Yeah." Isogai said. "I would."

"Okay." I nodded. "Then let's go home."


End file.
